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Board outlines procedure for public accountability hearings for D- and F-graded schools
Summary
The State Board described new rules under TCA 49-3-112 to call LEAs and public charter schools with D or F letter grades to public hearings; rules define selection, notification, hearing procedures and corrective-action recommendations to the Department of Education. Committee moved the package forward after clarifying it applies to public schools only.
Nathan James told the committee the proposed rule implements TCA 49-3-112 and sets out how LEAs and public charter schools that receive D or F letter grades will be selected, notified and heard publicly, and how the board may recommend corrective actions or audits to the Department of Education.
James said the board considered stakeholder input from superintendents and associations and held public rulemaking; he noted no public comments were received during the formal hearing. Members asked whether private schools or programs that receive funding through other mechanisms are subject; the board’s general counsel, Rachel Cuppay, clarified the statute and the rule apply to public schools and public charter schools and do not govern private schools or voucher-funded private institutions.
Representative Clemens and other legislators pressed whether the board’s committee ‘‘of confirmed members’’ could effectively tell local districts how to spend money. James and counsel said the rule implements the general assembly’s statutory authority: the board may recommend corrective action plans or audits but acts pursuant to the law passed by the legislature. The committee moved the rule and recorded a positive recommendation from the committee panels.
