49-6-3003 - Tuition or other fees. - Tennessee Statutes

49-6-3003. Tuition or other fees.

(a)  (1)  No tuition or fee shall be charged by any city or special school district except to pupils residing outside the city or district.

     (2)  Tuition or fees that may be charged to pupils residing outside the city or district but within the county shall not exceed per pupil, per annum, an amount equal to the amount of funds actually raised and used for school purposes from the city or special school district sources during the preceding school year, including tuition and fees, divided by the number of pupils in average daily attendance in the public schools of the city or district during the preceding school year.

(b)  (1)  Tuition and fees may be charged by any county to pupils not residing in that county. Tuition and fees may also be charged by any county to all pupils for voluntary programs that occur outside the required one hundred eighty (180) instructional days, unless the state funds the entire cost of the instruction.

     (2)  Tuition and fees charged by a county may not exceed per pupil, per annum, an amount equal to the amount of funds actually raised and used for school purposes by the county, divided by the number of pupils in average daily attendance in the county schools during the preceding school year. Any per pupil tuition payment shall be reduced by any amount of funds transferred by the transferring pupil's county of residence under § 49-6-3104.

(c)  (1)  (A)  Any parent, guardian or other legal custodian who enrolls an out-of-district student in a school district and fraudulently represents the address for the domicile of the student for enrollment purposes is liable for restitution to the school district for an amount equal to the local per pupil expenditure identified by the Tennessee department of education for the district in which the student is fraudulently enrolled.

          (B)  Any parent, guardian or other legal custodian who enrolls an out-of-state student in a school district and fraudulently represents the address for the domicile of the student for enrollment purposes is liable for restitution to the school district for an amount equal to the state and local per pupil expenditure identified by the Tennessee department of education for the district in which the student is fraudulently enrolled.

     (2)  (A)  Restitution shall be cumulative for each year the child has been fraudulently enrolled in the system. The restitution shall be payable to the school district and, when litigation is necessary to recover restitution, the parent, guardian or other legal custodian shall be liable for costs and fees, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by the school district.

          (B)  An action for restitution shall be brought by or on behalf of the district in the circuit or chancery court in which the district is located within one (1) year of the date the fraudulent representation occurred or was discovered, whichever is later. In no event shall the action be brought more than six (6) years after the date on which the fraudulent enrollment occurred.

[Acts 1925, ch. 115, § 19; Shan. Supp., § 1487a141; Code 1932, § 2472; Acts 1957, ch. 9, § 1; 1965, ch. 239, § 1; 1965, ch. 303, § 1; 1968, ch. 417, § 1; 1972, ch. 693, § 13; 1974, ch. 654, §§ 79, 80; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 49-1701; Acts 1990, ch. 649, §§ 1, 2; 1998, ch. 1014, § 1; 2003, ch. 221, § 1.]