House Amendment 1
H 5245 - Session 125 (2023-2024)
Charter school enrollment preferences

The Committee on Education and Public Works proposes the following amendment (LC-5245.WAB0001H):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 59-40-50(8) and inserting:

 (8) (a) not limit or deny admission or show preference in admission decisions to any individual or group of individuals, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school, in which case gender may be the only reason to show preference or deny admission to the school or as allowed by subitem (b);.
   (b) A charter school may give enrollment prioritypreference to any of the following by enrolling the student without requiring participation in a lottery when a lottery is otherwise required under this chapter:
    (i) a sibling of a pupil currently enrolled and attending, or who, within the last six years, attended the school for at least one complete academic year.;
    (ii) students enrolled in the public charter school the previous school yearA public charter school shall give enrollment preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous school year. An enrollment preference for returning students excludes those students from entering into a lottery. A charter school also may give priority tochildren of a charter school employee and children of the charter committee, if priority enrollment for children of employees and of the charter committee does not constitute more than twenty percent of the enrollment of the charter school.;
    (iii) a child or children of any employee of the charter school or member of the charter school committee, provided that the number of students eligible for this preference may not exceed twenty percent of the school's total enrollment;
    (iv) dependents of active-duty members of the military residing or stationed in this state, limited to not more than twenty percent of the school's total enrollment except for schools meeting the provisions of Section 59-40-50(B)(8)(e). Dependents of active duty military members are subject to the enrollment provisions of Section 59-63-33.
   (c) A student eligible for multiple enrollment preferences may be enrolled based on only one of the preferences, at the charter school's discretion. A student eligible for an enrollment preference that is denied the enrollment preference because the charter school has exceeded the number of enrollment preferences allowed must be permitted to participate in any enrollment lottery held by the school for the year the enrollment preference is denied.
   (d) In the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, mission-aligned preference may be given to educationally disadvantaged students as specifically defined in their charter and charter contract approved by their sponsor and as allowed by ESSA.
   (e) In addition, a charter school located on a federal military installation or base where the appropriate authorities have made buildings, facilities, and grounds on the installation or base available for use by the charter school as its principal location also may give enrollment prioritypreference to otherwise eligible students who are dependents of military personnel living in military housing on the base or installation or who are currently stationed at the base or installation not to exceed fifty percent of the total enrollment of the charter school. This prioritypreference is in addition to the other prioritiespreferences provided by this item, but no child may be counted more than once for purposes of determining the percentage makeup of each prioritypreference;