Each of the two (2) schools shall be open to receive all pupils eligible to attend it, and shall provide for the proper lodging, maintenance, care and education while in attendance. A student shall not be admitted to or continue as a pupil in the School for the Blind whose acuity of vision is, or becomes, habitually greater than fifty percent (50%) of normal vision, and a pupil shall not be admitted or remain as a pupil in the school for the deaf whose ability to hear is customarily sufficient for him or her to attend the public schools provided for normal children. The board, in its discretion, shall establish the age of eligibility for students seeking admission to the schools. No person shall be admitted to either institution as a pupil who is not a bona fide resident of this state or who is not of good moral character.

The State Board of Education shall fix the amount to be paid, and the terms of payment, by pupils in each school for board, and the conditions of admission, subject to the provisions of this chapter; and shall admit free of charges, upon the certificate of the county superintendent of education of any county in the state, all pupils eligible to attend the school, provided the amount appropriated by the Legislature is sufficient properly to care for the same. Each school shall provide requisite facilities for every pupil therein to acquire as complete a literary and musical education as practicable; and shall provide and maintain an industrial department in which expert instruction shall be given in such trades and crafts as may be suited to render the pupil therein self-sustaining in after life.