(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, a charter school may not limit admission on any basis other than age group, grade level, or enrollment capacity. A charter school is open to any student regardless of his or her location of residence.

(2) A charter school may not charge tuition, but may charge fees for participation in optional extracurricular events and activities in the same manner and to the same extent as do other public schools.

(3) If capacity is insufficient to enroll all students who apply to a charter school, the charter school must grant an enrollment preference to siblings of enrolled students, with any remaining enrollments allocated through a lottery. A charter school may offer, pursuant to an admissions policy approved by the authorizer, a weighted enrollment preference for at-risk students or to children of full-time employees of the school if the employees' children reside within the state.

(4) The enrollment capacity of a charter school must be determined annually by the charter school board in consultation with the authorizer and with consideration of the charter school's ability to facilitate the academic success of its students, achieve the objectives specified in the charter contract, and assure that its student enrollment does not exceed the capacity of its facility. An authorizer may not restrict the number of students a charter school may enroll.

(5) Nothing in this section prevents formation of a charter school whose mission is to offer a specialized learning environment and services for particular groups of students, such as at-risk students, students with disabilities, or students who pose such severe disciplinary problems that they warrant a specific educational program. Nothing in this section prevents formation of a charter school organized around a special emphasis, theme, or concept as stated in the school's application and charter contract.