TCA § 49-13-132 — List of student names, ages, addresses, dates of attendance and grade levels completed

To effectuate § 49-13-113 , within thirty (30) days of receiving a request from an authorizer or a public charter school approved to operate one (1) or more schools within the geographic boundaries of the LEA, the LEA shall provide at no cost a list of student names, ages, addresses, dates of attendance, and grade levels completed in accordance with § 10-7-504 and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ( 20 U.S.C. § 1232 g). Such information shall not be released by the receiving entity to outside parties without prior written consent from the parent or eligible student. Each recipient of such information shall adopt and implement a policy allowing parents or eligible students to decline to receive further information from the charter school. Acts 2017, ch. 307, § 20; 2019, ch. 219, §§ 88, 89. Compiler's Notes. Former § 49-13-132 (Acts 2009, ch. 555, § 15, repealed by Acts 2011, ch. 466, § 18, effective June 10, 2011) concerned the adoption of dates and timelines for applications for conversion of schools in Restructuring 2 — Alternative Governance to charter schools. Acts 2017, ch. 307, § 1 provided that the act, which enacted this section, shall be known and may be cited as the “Tennessee High-Quality Charter Schools Act.” Attorney General Opinions. A school district or local education agency in Tennessee must comply with the new disclosure mandate in T.C.A.§ 49-13-132 , and nothing in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232 g, prohibits that disclosure. Each school district or local education agency must promptly amend its policy to permit the release of the information specified in T.C.A. § 49-13-132 to chartering authorities and public charter schools and must notify parents of the new policy and allow them a reasonable opportunity to opt out of the disclosure of student information. After providing this notice and opportunity to opt out, the school district must comply with the statute. The statute does not prohibit chartering authorities and public charter schools from using student contact information received from local education agencies to contact parents and provide them with additional public school options available to their children. Instead, it is designed to facilitate that contact. OAG 17-39, 2017 Tenn. AG LEXIS 39 (9/13/2017). NOTES TO DECISIONS 1. Disclosure. 2. Federal Preemption. 3. Construction. 1. Disclosure. Local education agency to whom a request is directed is required to provide the requesting chartering authority with the listed information in order to effectuate the purpose of allowing participation in the public charter school based on parental choice or the choice of the legal guardian or custodian. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). Trial court properly issued a writ of mandamus to a school board and director of schools requiring the production of student data to the State because they had a clear statutory duty to comply with the State's request for certain student data. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). 2. Federal Preemption. There is no conflict between the statute and the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) because complying with the statute in no way stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment of FERPA's purpose of protecting student data, and the standard protective mechanism of FERPA, prior parental consent, does not apply to the directory information that is the subject; disclosing the information in accordance with the statute does not conflict with FERPA but is entirely consistent with FERPA. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). Statute is not preempted by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act; The state statute is mandatory and requires a local education agency to provide the requested directory information to a requesting chartering authority or public charter school. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). 3. Construction. Applying the last antecedent rule to the phrase “approved to operate one (1) or more schools in the district,” the legislature intended for the phrase to modify only “a public charter school” because there is no comma before the phrase; in accordance with the plain meaning of the language, the statute provides for two types of entities that can request directory information: (1) a chartering authority, or (2) a public charter school approved to operate one (1) or more schools in the district. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). Achievement School District does not need to operate a school within the district to be entitled to information; there is no ambiguity in the statute. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). Purpose of the statute is to enable chartering authorities and public charter schools to gain access to student data to inform eligible students and their parents/guardians of the available school choices; the language contains no restrictions on the receiving entity's use of the information, and once a chartering authority or charter school receives directory information from a local education agency, it does not constrain that entity in the purpose for which it may use the information. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019). Statute is not ambiguous on a requesting authority's ability to use the requested information for marketing and recruiting, and, therefore, there is no need to consult the legislative history; the statute describes a ministerial duty, not a discretionary action, for a local education agency receiving a request from a chartering authority or a public charter school approved to operate a school(s) in the district. State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., 587 S.W.3d 397, 2019 Tenn. App. LEXIS 68 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2019), appeal denied, State ex rel. McQueen v. Metro. Nashville Bd. of Pub. Educ., — S.W.3d —, 2019 Tenn. LEXIS 270 (Tenn. June 20, 2019).