Sec. 5. (a) IC 20-24-5-5 (with the exception of IC 20-24-5-5(g)) does not apply to a participating innovation network charter school that enters into an agreement with the board to reconstitute or establish an eligible school.
(b) Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), a participating innovation network charter school must enroll any eligible student who submits a timely application for enrollment.
(c) A participating innovation network charter school that reconstitutes or establishes an eligible school may limit new admissions to the participating innovation network charter school to:
(1) ensure that any student with legal settlement in the attendance area, or in the school corporation if the school does not have a defined attendance area, may attend the charter school;
(2) ensure that a student who attends the participating innovation network charter school during a school year may continue to attend the charter school in subsequent years;
(3) allow the siblings of a student alumnus or a current student who attends the participating innovation network charter school to attend the charter school;
(4) allow preschool students who attend a Level 3 or Level 4 Paths to QUALITY program preschool to attend kindergarten at the participating innovation network charter school if the participating innovation network charter school and the school corporation or preschool provider have entered into an agreement to share services or facilities;
(5) allow each student who qualifies for free or reduced price lunch under the national school lunch program to receive preference for admission to the participating innovation network charter school if the preference is specifically provided for in the charter and is approved by the authorizer; and
(6) allow each student who attended a turnaround academy or attends a school that is located in the same school building as the participating innovation network charter school to receive preference for admission to the participating innovation network charter school if the preference is specifically provided for in the participating innovation network charter school's charter and is approved by the authorizer of the participating innovation network charter school.
(d) A participating innovation network charter school with a curriculum that includes study in a foreign country may deny admission to a student if:
(1) the student:
(A) has completed fewer than twenty-two (22) academic credits required for graduation; and
(B) will be in the grade 11 cohort during the school year in which the student seeks to enroll in the participating innovation network charter school; or
(2) the student has been suspended (as defined in IC 20-33-8-7) or expelled (as defined in IC 20-33-8-3) during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the student's application for enrollment for:
(A) ten (10) or more school days;
(B) a violation under IC 20-33-8-16;
(C) causing physical injury to a student, a school employee, or a visitor to the school; or
(D) a violation of a school corporation's drug or alcohol rules.
For purposes of subdivision (2)(A), student discipline received under IC 20-33-8-25(b)(7) for a violation described in subdivision (2)(B) through (2)(D) must be included in the calculation of the number of school days that a student has been suspended.
(e) A participating innovation network charter school may give enrollment preferences to children of the participating innovation network charter school's founders, governing board members, and participating innovation network charter school employees, as long as the enrollment preference under this subsection is not given to more than ten percent (10%) of the participating innovation charter school's total population and there is sufficient capacity for a program, class, grade level, or building to ensure that any student with legal settlement in the attendance area may attend the school.
(f) This subsection applies to an existing charter school that enters into an innovation network agreement with the board. During the charter school's first year of operation as a participating innovation network charter school, the charter school may limit admission to:
(1) those students who were enrolled in the charter school on the date it entered into the innovation network agreement; and
(2) siblings of students described in subdivision (1).
(g) This subsection applies if the number of applications for a program, class, grade level, or building exceeds the capacity of the program, class, grade level, or building. If a participating innovation network charter school receives a greater number of applications than there are spaces for students, each timely applicant must be given an equal chance of admission. The participating innovation network charter school that is not in a county containing a consolidated city must determine which of the applicants will be admitted to the participating innovation network charter school or the program, class, grade level, or building by random drawing in a public meeting with each timely applicant limited to one (1) entry in the drawing. However, the participating innovation network charter school located in a county with a consolidated city shall determine which of the applicants will be admitted to the participating innovation network charter school or the program, class, grade level, or building by using a publicly verifiable random selection process.
As added by P.L.179-2016, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.250-2017, SEC.26; P.L.130-2018, SEC.88; P.L.155-2020, SEC.6; P.L.211-2021, SEC.14; P.L.216-2021, SEC.13; P.L.220-2021, SEC.9.