Background: In general, charter schools must enroll children by lottery when the number of applications exceeds the capacity of the school. Current law provides exceptions to the lottery requirement for siblings of enrolled pupils (including foster children in the same family), children of the charter school’s staff, children living within five miles a charter school in Duluth township in St. Louis County, and children who were previously enrolled in a prekindergarten program at the charter school.

Section 1. [Charter school] admission requirements and enrollment. Authorizes a charter school located in the city of Nerstrand in Rice County that enrolls children in kindergarten through grade 6 to give enrollment preference to students residing within a five-mile radius of the school and to the siblings of enrolled children. For the 2018-2019 school year, the only charter school qualifying under this provision is Nerstrand Elementary.