Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 37.

Present law requires the department of education ("department") to create and develop a four-year school turnaround pilot program for priority schools. Subject to available funds, the department must provide grants to local boards of education with schools in need of intervention to facilitate the implementation of interventions identified in an approved school turnaround plan, including the funding of contracts with qualified independent school turnaround experts. Present law provides that the pilot program lasts for a total of four years and allows for a maximum of five schools to participate. This bill removes the four-year limit and increases the number of eligible spots in the program to 15 priority schools. Present law requires the department to select one priority school from each grand division in this state to ensure that the priority schools selected to participate are geographically diverse. This bill revises this provision to, instead, require the department to select three schools from each grand division. REMAINING IN PROGRAM UNTIL COMPLETION Present law requires a school in need of intervention to participate in the pilot program to remain in the program until the conclusion of the pilot program. This bill, instead, provides that a school in need of intervention that is required to participate in the pilot program must remain in the pilot program until the conclusion of the pilot program. However, under this bill, a school in need of intervention selected to participate in the pilot program must not remain in the pilot program for more than four school years. SELECTING SCHOOLS FOR PARTICIPATION This bill authorizes the department to select additional schools in need of intervention to participate in the pilot program if one or more schools in need of intervention exit the pilot program after participating in the pilot program for four school years, so long as no more than 15 schools participate in the pilot program at a time.