Tennessee Code Title 49. Education § 49-13-113

(c)(1) If a public charter school's authorizer has a policy allowing out-of-district enrollment, then the public charter school may enroll students residing outside the geographic boundaries of the LEA in which the public charter school is located if capacity is available after all eligible in-district students have been enrolled.  A public charter school's total enrollment of out-of-district students shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the public charter school's total enrollment.

(2) State school funds must follow a student into the LEA in which the public charter school is located and to which the student transfers.

(3) Tuition may be charged by the LEA in which the public charter school is located and to which a student transfers, as provided in § 49-6-3003.

(4) If a public charter school's authorizer has a policy that prohibits out-of-district enrollment, then the public charter school may request to adopt an out-of-district enrollment policy through the waiver process outlined in § 49-13-111;  provided, however, that the waiver request may only be submitted to the public charter school's authorizer for approval.

(5) A student who resides in a county in which more than one (1) LEA operates shall not be considered an out-of-district student for purposes of enrollment in a public charter school authorized to operate in the county LEA if the student transfers to the public charter school from another LEA located in the same county.

(d)(1) A public charter school shall enroll an eligible pupil who submits a timely application, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building.

(2) An enrollment preference shall be provided to students that attended the charter school during the previous school year.

(3) If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, the charter school shall select students through a lottery.  The enrollment preference for returning students provided in subdivision (d)(2) shall exclude those students from entering into a lottery.

(4) If an enrollment lottery is conducted, a public charter school shall give enrollment preferences in the following order:

(5) A public charter school may give an enrollment preference to students who are economically disadvantaged, as defined in § 49-3-104.  A public charter school may request information to verify that a student is economically disadvantaged on the application submitted pursuant to subdivision (d)(1) for purposes of an enrollment lottery, but shall not require it.  Only students who legally qualify may be given an enrollment preference pursuant to this subdivision (d)(5).

(6) A public charter school may give an enrollment preference to children of the public charter school's employees or to the children of a member of the public charter school's governing body, not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the public charter school's total enrollment or twenty-five (25) students, whichever is less.

(8) The state board of education is authorized to promulgate rules concerning lottery enrollment.  The rules shall be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.

(2) Students who attended the opportunity public charter school during the previous year may re-enroll in the opportunity public charter school for the upcoming year and are not subject to an enrollment lottery.

(3) If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, then the opportunity public charter school must select students through an enrollment lottery.  Returning students who re-enroll in the opportunity public charter school pursuant to subdivision (f)(2) are excluded from entering into an enrollment lottery.  Students who are at-risk students, as defined in § 49-13-104, must be given an enrollment preference.