Distribution Of Funds

(1) The Department shall distribute allocated education funding periodically throughout the school year according to a schedule established by the commissioners of education and finance and administration, subject to all applicable restrictions prescribed by law. (a) Approximately one-tenth (1/10) of the estimated total of the state funds annually appropriated for TISA shall be distributed on or about August 15, and on or about the fifteenth (15th) day of each succeeding month through April 15, and the amount of the remainder due each LEA for the school year shall be determined during June of such school year. (b) The amount of the remainder due shall be determined based on the records that each LEA has furnished the Department. The actual delivery of the warrant covering the final distribution to an LEA shall not be made until after all records required by the Department have been furnished. (c) Before a full and complete settlement is made with any LEA for any year, all records and reports required by the Department shall be filed with the Department by the LEA. (2) LEAs shall distribute state and local funds to their authorized public charter schools pursuant to State Board of Education Rules, Chapter 0520-14-01 regarding the allocation of state and local funds to public charter schools. (3) If state funds available for distribution are insufficient to meet an LEA’s TISA allocation for a school year, then the Department shall apply a pro rata reduction to the amount that each LEA is allocated. If it is necessary to issue pro rata payments, the Commissioner, with the approval of the State Board, may waive any requirements prescribed by law, rule, or otherwise until the state provides the required funding; provided, however, that the Commissioner shall not waive the regulatory or statutory requirements listed in T.C.A. § 49-1-201(d)(1)(A)-(O). (4) The Department shall apply the following minimum allocation requirements annually when distributing TISA funds: (a) An LEA’s allocated education funding shall not decrease more than five percent (5%) from one (1) year to the next year. (b) If an LEA’s TISA allocation decreases by more than five percent (5%) from the LEA’s TISA allocation for the prior school year, then the Department shall allocate additional funds to the LEA in an amount such that the decrease in the LEA’s TISA allocation for the current year is only five percent (5%). The Department will use the relative TENNESSEE INVESTMENT IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT (TISA) CHAPTER 0520-12-05 contribution of state and local funds in the original TISA allocation for the funded year to set the state and Local Contributions of the updated allocations. (c) The Department shall not allocate additional funds to an LEA pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-3- 108(c) if the Department is required to allocate additional funds to the LEA pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-3-108 subsection (b). (5) Subject to appropriations by the Tennessee General Assembly and pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-3- 108(d)(1), the Department shall distribute a grant to an LEA meeting the following criteria: (a) The LEA that is located within a county designated as distressed or at risk by the commissioner of economic and community development and for which the LEA’s Fiscal Capacity and Local Contribution increase the LEA’s maintenance of effort requirements pursuant to T.C.A. § 49-3-314(c)(3)(A). Distressed or at-risk grant funding is calculated as a flat dollar value equal to the amount of the required increase in their Local Contribution; or (b) The LEA is located within a county having an active tourism development zone agreement executed before July 1, 2023, and having a population of not less than ninety- eight thousand three hundred (98,300) nor more than ninety-eight thousand four hundred (98,400), according to the 2020 federal census or any subsequent federal census. This annual grant is to be in the amount of $1,840,000. (6) An LEA that satisfies the criteria of Subparagraphs (5)(a) and (5)(b) may receive multiple grants. (7) The Department shall report longitudinal and comparative school and district-level funding and district, state, and federal-level per-pupil expenditure data reporting in transparent and interactive formats annually beginning no later than December 2024.