Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 1; Title 49, Chapter 2 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

Present law requires each LEA to develop a policy whereby the LEA provides for an open enrollment period during which parents or guardians may choose from a list of the LEA schools with available space and request a transfer. This bill changes and adds to present law concerning open enrollment. This bill requires that the open enrollment period last at least 30 days. This bill requires that each LEA, prior to the start of a school year, identify each school that has space available to enroll additional students and post on the LEA's website the number of spaces available for enrollment (minus reserved spaces, discussed below) in each school by grade, class, and program level at least 14 days before the open enrollment period begins. This bill authorizes an LEA to reserve a reasonable number of enrollment spaces each school year to accommodate the potential enrollment of students who may relocate within the respective school zone, students who may have a sibling enrolled at the respective school, and students who may have a parent who teaches at the respective school. During the open enrollment period, parents and guardians of students residing in the LEA will be authorized to apply for enrollment of their student at a school that the student is not zoned to attend. If there are more transfer applications for particular spaces than are available, this bill requires the LEA to conduct a lottery to determine which students will receive the transfers. This bill prohibits LEAs from admitting a nonresident student seeking to transfer into the LEA from outside the LEA before all applications for transfer from parents and guardians of students residing within the district have been acted upon; provided, however, that LEAs will be authorized to admit a nonresident student who seeks a transfer on the basis of being the child of a teacher at the school prior to acting on all transfer applications from district residents. This bill prohibits LEAs from denying a student who is zoned to attend or was enrolled in a school during the previous school year enrollment and attendance in the school. ON APRIL 26, 2021, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 788 FOR HOUSE BILL 1305, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 788, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 changes this bill's applicability from "the 2021-2022 school year and each school year thereafter" to "the 2022-2023 school year and each school year thereafter".