Section 20-2-2066. Admission, enrollment, and withdrawal of students

   (a) A local charter school shall enroll students in the following manner:

   (1) (A) A start-up charter school shall enroll any student who resides in the charter attendance zone as specified in the charter and who submits a timely application as specified in the charter unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. In such case, all such applicants shall have an equal chance of being admitted through a random selection process unless otherwise prohibited by law; provided, however, that a start-up charter school may give enrollment preference to applicants in any one or more of the following categories in the order of priority specified in the charter:

         (i) A sibling of a student enrolled in the start-up charter school;

         (ii) A sibling of a student enrolled in another local school designated in the charter;

         (iii) A student whose parent or guardian is a member of the governing board of the charter school or is a full-time teacher, professional, or other employee at the charter school;

         (iv) Students matriculating from a local school designated in the charter; and

         (v) Children who matriculate from a pre-kindergarten program which is associated with the school, including, but not limited to, programs which share common facilities or campuses with the school or programs which have established a partnership or cooperative efforts with the school; and

      (B) A conversion charter school shall enroll any student who resides in the attendance zone specified in the charter and who submits a timely application as specified in the charter. If the number of applying students who reside in the attendance zone does not exceed the capacity as specified in the charter, additional students shall be enrolled based on a random selection process; provided, however, that enrollment preferences may be given to applicants in any one or more of the following categories in the order of priority specified in the charter:

         (i) A sibling of a student enrolled in the charter school or in any school in the high school cluster;

         (ii) Students whose parent or guardian is a member of the governing board of the charter school or is a full-time teacher, professional, or other employee at the charter school;

         (iii) Students who were enrolled in the local school prior to its becoming a charter school;

         (iv) Students who reside in the charter attendance zone specified in the charter; and

         (v) Children who matriculate from a pre-kindergarten program which is associated with the school, including, but not limited to, programs which share common facilities or campuses with the school or programs which have established a partnership or cooperative efforts with the school; and

   (2) A student who resides outside the school system in which the local charter school is located may not enroll in that local charter school except pursuant to a contractual agreement between the local boards of the school system in which the student resides and the school system in which the local charter school is located. Unless otherwise provided in such contractual agreement, a local charter school may give enrollment preference to a sibling of a nonresident student currently enrolled in the local charter school.

(b) A state chartered special school shall enroll any student who resides in the attendance zone specified in the charter and who submits a timely application as specified in the charter unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building. The period of time during which an application for enrollment may be submitted shall be specified in the charter. In such case, all such applicants shall have an equal chance of being admitted through a random selection process unless otherwise prohibited by law; provided, however, that a state chartered special school may give enrollment preference to a child of a full-time teacher, professional, or other employee of the state chartered special school as provided for in subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-293 or to a sibling of a student currently enrolled in the state chartered special school.

(b.1) A charter system shall enroll students in its system charter schools per the terms of the charter and in accordance with state board rules.

(c) A charter school shall not discriminate on any basis that would be illegal if used by a school system.

(d) A student may withdraw without penalty from a charter school at any time and enroll in a local school in the school system in which such student resides as may be provided for by the policies of the local board. A student who is suspended or expelled from a charter school as a result of a disciplinary action taken by a charter school shall be entitled to enroll in a local school within the local school system in which the student resides, if, under the disciplinary policy of the local school system, such student would not have been subject to suspension or expulsion for the conduct which gave rise to the suspension or expulsion. In such instances, the local board shall not be required to independently verify the nature or occurrence of the applicable conduct or any evidence relating thereto.

Code 1981, § 20-2-2066, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 1080, § 3; Ga. L. 2002, p. 388, § 1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 798, § 13/SB 35; Ga. L. 2007, p. 185, § 9/SB 39; Ga. L. 2013, p. 1061, § 28/HB 283.