Tennessee Public Charter School Commission seeks two staff positions as portfolio grows to 24 schools serving 8,000+ students

The Tennessee Public Charter School Commission told the Finance, Ways and Means Committee it needs two additional positions for FY26 to support district-level responsibilities as its portfolio expands.

Executive Director Tess Stovall said the commission will fund the two positions using revenue from its statutory 3 percent authorizer fee, which the commission collects from state and local funds passed through to the schools it authorizes. Stovall said the commission had 4 authorized schools when it took over duties from the State Board of Education in 2021; it has 17 schools in operation in 2024-25 serving just under 7,000 students across multiple counties and expects to operate 24 schools serving a little over 8,000 students in FY26.

What the commission does and why the positions are needed

Stovall described the commission's statutory role as both authorizer and the local education agency (LEA) for schools it authorizes. That role, she said, requires district-level oversight: fiscal monitoring, federal grant administration, test administration and reporting, student information systems, and oversight of special populations (students with disabilities, English learners and 504 services). The two requested positions would support (1) finance and operations (receipt and distribution of funds, student information system and reporting) and (2) school programs and supports (special-population oversight and academic initiatives, including summer learning and VPK).

Funding mechanism: authorizer fee

Stovall said the requested positions would be fully paid from the commission's authorizer fee revenue. She described the statutory 3 percent fee as a deduction from state and local per-student funding that flows through the Department of Education to the commission and then to schools; the commission said it does not currently take indirect funds from federal dollars passed through to schools.

Questions and commentary from lawmakers

- Chairman Baum asked about the authorizer fee and the scope of allowable uses; Stovall confirmed the fee is 3 percent of state and local per-student funding and said the commission also receives pass-through federal grant dollars but does not take an indirect on those federal funds.

- Chairman Williams and committee members discussed volatility in local revenue and enrollment. Melanie Harrell, the commission's director of finance and operations, said a decline in local tax revenue in Davidson County had reduced the pass-through per-pupil amount for commission schools and that opening new schools and higher enrollment explain the higher budget estimate for FY26 compared with FY24 actuals.

- On growth in the commission's portfolio, Stovall said seven schools will open under the commission in FY26, one of which is transitioning from the Achievement School District; the commission said it approved four appeals and denied two in the most recent cycle and that seven schools are slated to open under its authority in the coming year.

Context and next steps

The commission said it has been rated exemplary in authorizer evaluations and that most of its schools show strong academic growth and state letter-grade performance. The committee asked for follow-up materials, including (at Chairman Williams' request) additional detail on year-to-year variances in pass-through revenue and a breakdown of the new schools and how authorizer funds will be applied to operations and oversight.

No formal committee vote or budget action was taken during the presentation; the commission said it would provide additional financial details on request.