1. (1) Pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-3-112(c), the State Board of Education (“State Board”) is authorized to call an Accountability Hearing (“Hearing”) for any local education agency (“LEA”) that operates a public school that receives a “D” or “F” letter grade on the state report card, or any public charter school that receives a “D” or “F” letter grade and the public charter school’s authorizer as defined in T.C.A. § 49-13-104. The Hearing shall review the public school’s performance and how the LEA’s or public charter school’s spending decisions may have affected the ability of the school to achieve student performance goals, including those defined in T.C.A. § 49-3-112(a).
2. (2) The State Board shall begin conducting annual Hearings in the 2025-2026 school year.

3. (3) Following the Tennessee Department of Education’s (“Department”) annual release of school letter grades pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-1-228, an LEA shall be called for a Hearing if:

   1. (a) The LEA meets one (1) of the following criteria:

      1. 1. Has at least one (1) public school for which that same school received an “F” letter grade for the two (2) most recent school years in which school letter grades have been issued; or
      2. 2. Has at least one (1) public school for which that same school received an “F” letter grade immediately following the year in which that school received a “D” letter grade; and
   2. (b) The LEA has not been called for a Hearing during the two (2) consecutive school years prior to the school year in which the Hearing will be held.

4. (4) Following the Department’s annual release of school letter grades pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-1- 228, a public charter school and its authorizer shall be called for a Hearing if:

   1. (a) The public charter school meets one (1) of the following criteria:

      1. 1. Received an “F” letter grade for the two (2) most recent school years in which school letter grades have been issued; or
      2. 2. Received an “F” letter grade immediately following the year in which it received a “D” letter grade; and
   2. (b) The public charter school has not been called for a Hearing during the two (2) consecutive school years prior to the school year in which the Hearing will be held.
5. (5) If an LEA or public charter school is called for a Hearing based on the criteria stated in paragraphs (3) or (4) of this Rule and that school has closed or is scheduled to close by June 30th of the year in which the Hearing will be held, the LEA or public charter school shall provide documented evidence of the vote to close the school by the local board of education, the governing body, the authorizer, or the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission, when acting in its official capacity as the appellate body, to the State Board’s executive director within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the written notification of a Hearing. If documented evidence of the vote to close the school is timely provided to the State Board’s executive director, the LEA or public charter school shall not be called for a Hearing on behalf of the closing or closed school.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-1-228, 49-1-302, and 49-3-112. Administrative History: New rules filed September 25, 2025; effective December 24, 2025.