Attorney General Opinions 
Relating to County Government

2016 Education

  • Every LEA in which a charter school operates is required to catalog all underutilized and vacant properties owned or operated by the LEA each year and submit the listing of such properties to the state department of education and to the comptroller under T.C.A. § 49-13-136(c)(1).  Based on the plain language of the statute, vacant and underutilized properties must be made “available” to charter schools, but the statute does not require the LEA enter into a binding contract with a charter school for the use of available property in every instance.   Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 16-37 (September 16, 2016).
  • School nutrition associations do not appear to qualify as “school support organizations” within the meaning of the School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act unless they solicit or accept money or other items of value in support of school activities, or engage in other school support activities encompassed by the Act.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 16-27 (July 22, 2016).
  • Under the Tennessee Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA), member dues collected by a public professional employees’ organization through payroll deductions under a memorandum of understanding cannot be used to engage in or pay for political activity, including political communications, nor may they be used as contributions to an entity that engages in political activity.  Although PECCA does not prescribe any particular requirements for separating funds obtained via payroll deductions from other funds, individual employees’ organizations must select appropriate mechanisms for maintaining finds to ensure compliance with the ban on the use of payroll deductions for political activities.  Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 16-22 (June 8, 2016).  
  • For Shelby County to assume the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) indebtedness of Memphis City Schools that existed when school operations were transferred to Shelby County Schools, T.C.A. § 49-2-1002(d) requires the county legislative body to adopt, by a vote of a majority of its members, a resolution assuming the OPEB indebtedness owed by Memphis City Schools.  Opinion No. 16-01 (January 5, 2016).
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