Section 49-13-110 - Charter agreement(a) An authorizer's approval of a public charter school application must be in the form of a written charter agreement signed by the sponsor and the authorizer, which shall be binding upon the governing body of the public charter school. The charter agreement for a public charter school must be in writing and must contain all material components of the approved application required under § 49-13-107(b).(b) A charter agreement expires ten (10) academic years after the first day of instruction. A public charter school may delay, for a period not to exceed one (1) academic year, the school's initial opening. If the public charter school requires a delay in the school's initial opening of more than one (1) academic year, then the school must obtain approval of the delay from the school's authorizer.(c) A renewal of a charter agreement shall be for a period of ten (10) academic years.(d) The governing body of the public charter school may petition the authorizer to amend the original charter agreement. The state board of education shall determine the timelines for approval and the appeal process until 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2021. Beginning July 1, 2021, the commission shall determine the timelines for approval and the appeal process. If the authorizer is the state board of education or the commission, then an appeal shall not be made of the state board of education's or the commission's decision to deny a petition to amend the charter agreement. The governing body of a public charter school may petition the authorizer for voluntary termination of the charter agreement before the charter agreement expires.(e) If an LEA's local board of education changes the grade bands for the LEA's elementary schools, middle schools, elementary and secondary schools, or elementary or secondary schools, as those terms are defined in § 49-6-301, then the local board of education shall notify each public charter school authorized by the LEA at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the grade band changes are implemented to allow the public charter school to seek an amendment to the school's charter agreement.(f)(1) Upon the termination of a charter agreement and upon the closure of a public charter school for any reason, any unencumbered public funds from the public charter school automatically revert back to the authorizer. If a charter agreement is terminated and the public charter school is closed, all property and improvements, furnishings, and equipment purchased with public funds automatically revert back to the LEA, subject to complete satisfaction of any lawful liens or encumbrances.(2) If a public charter school is closed for any reason, then the public charter school is responsible for all debts of the public charter school. The authorizer shall not assume the debt from any contract for goods or services made between the governing body of the public charter school and a third party, except for a debt that is previously detailed and agreed upon in writing by the authorizer and the governing body of the public charter school, and that may not reasonably be assumed to have been satisfied by the authorizer.Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 206, s 2, eff. 4/24/2023.Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 493, s 35, eff. 5/25/2021.Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 219, Secs.s 26, s 27, s 28, s 29eff. 4/26/2019.Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 850, s 9, eff. 4/30/2014.Acts 2002, ch. 850, § 10.