A. Except for a charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education, a charter school shall enroll those students whose legal residence is within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter school is located and who submit a timely application, or those students who transfer to the district in which the charter school is located in accordance with Section 8-103 or 8-104 of this title, unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. Students who reside in a school district where a charter school is located shall not be required to obtain a transfer in order to attend a charter school in the school district of residence. If capacity is insufficient to enroll all eligible students, the charter school shall select students through a lottery selection process. Except for a charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education, a charter school shall give enrollment preference to eligible students who reside within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter school is located. Except for a charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education, a charter school created after November 1, 2010, shall give enrollment preference to eligible students who reside within the boundaries of the school district in which the charter school is located and who attend a school site that has been identified as in need of improvement by the State Board of Education pursuant to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended or reauthorized. A charter school may limit admission to students within a given age group or grade level. A charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education when the applicant of the charter school is the Office of Juvenile Affairs shall limit admission to youth that are in the custody or supervision of the Office of Juvenile Affairs.

B. Except for a charter school sponsored by the State Board of Education, a charter school shall admit students who reside in the attendance area of a school or in a school district that is under a court order of desegregation or that is a party to an agreement with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights directed towards mediating alleged or proven racial discrimination unless notice is received from the resident school district that admission of the student would violate the court order or agreement.

C. A charter school may designate a specific geographic area within the school district in which the charter school is located as an academic enterprise zone and may limit admissions to students who reside within that area. An academic enterprise zone shall be a geographic area in which sixty percent (60%) or more of the children who reside in the area qualify for the free or reduced school lunch program.

D. Except as provided in subsections B and C of this section, a charter school shall not limit admission based on ethnicity, national origin, gender, income level, disabling condition, proficiency in the English language, measures of achievement, aptitude, or athletic ability.

E. A sponsor of a charter school shall not restrict the number of students a charter school may enroll. The capacity of the charter school shall be determined annually by the governing board of the charter school based on the ability of the charter school to facilitate the academic success of the students, to achieve the other objectives specified in the charter contract and to ensure that the student enrollment does not exceed the capacity of its facility or site.

Added by Laws 1999, c. 320, § 15, eff. July 1, 1999. Amended by Laws 2010, c. 288, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 185, § 1; Laws 2011, c. 367, § 3; Laws 2012, c. 367, § 2, eff. July 1, 2012; Laws 2013, c. 83, § 4, eff. July 1, 2013; Laws 2013, c. 212, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2013; Laws 2015, c. 170, § 5.

NOTE: Laws 2010, c. 290, § 3 repealed by Laws 2011, c. 1, § 38, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011.