Tennessee Code Title 49. Education § 49-13-121

(a) No later than April 1 of the year prior to the year in which the charter expires, the governing body of a public charter school seeking renewal shall submit a renewal application to the local board of education, if the local board of education is the authorizer, or to the commission or the local board of education, if the commission is the authorizer, on the standardized application form developed by the state board of education in consultation with the commission.  The authorizer shall report each renewal application received by the authorizer to the commission no later than ten (10) days from the date on which the authorizer received the renewal application.

(b) A public charter school renewal application must contain a report of the public charter school's operations, including students' standardized test scores, financial statements, and audits for the eight (8) years immediately preceding the date of the renewal application.

(c) Three (3) months prior to the date on which a public charter school is required to submit a renewal application, the authorizer shall submit to the public charter school a performance report that reflects the renewal evaluation.

(d) On or before the February 1 of the year in which the charter expires, the authorizer to which the renewal application was submitted shall rule by resolution to approve or deny the public charter school's renewal application.  The authorizer shall consider the renewal application, the annual authorizing report required under § 49-13-120, and the renewal performance report required under subsection (b) when deciding whether to approve or deny the public charter school's renewal application.

(e) Deleted by 2025 Pub.Acts, c. 275, § 22, eff. July 1, 2025.

(f) Beginning on January 1, 2021:

(g) If a public charter school renewal application is approved, then the term of the renewed charter agreement shall be for ten (10) academic years.

(h) A decision to deny renewal of a charter agreement becomes effective at the close of the school year.

(i) No later than ten (10) days after an authorizer adopts a resolution to renew or deny renewal of a charter agreement, the authorizer shall report the authorizer's decision to the department of education and commission and shall provide a copy of the resolution that sets forth the authorizer's decision and the reasons for the decision.

(j) If a public charter school voluntarily closes, then the public charter school's agreement with the authorizer ceases to be effective as of the public charter school's closing date.

(k) The authorizer shall conduct an interim review of a public charter school in the fifth year of a public charter school's initial period of operation and in the fifth year following any renewal of a charter agreement under guidelines developed by the state board of education.  The guidelines must require a public charter school to submit a report to the authorizer on the progress of the public charter school in achieving its goals and objectives, including student performance and other terms of the approved charter agreement.

(l) Notwithstanding subsection (g), the first sentence of § 49-13-110(b), and § 49-13-110(c), if the commission approves the renewal of a charter agreement in accordance with § 49-1-614(k)(2)(B) or § 49-1-614(k)(4), then the public charter school and the commission shall enter into a renewed charter agreement in accordance with § 49-13-110(a) for a term of no less than five (5) academic years, but no more than ten (10) academic years, as determined by resolution of the commission.