Indiana law does not place any caps on charter school growth.  However, it requires that 60% of the students who are enrolled in virtual charter schools for the first time each school year must have been included in the state’s ADM count for the previous school year.

Indiana law permits new start-ups, public school conversions, and virtual schools.

Indiana law allows local school boards, public four-year universities or their designated representative, the Mayor of Indianapolis, a state charter board, and a nonprofit college or university that provides a four-year educational program for which it awards a baccalaureate or more advanced degree to authorize charters.

The law requires the state department of education to establish a charter school page on the department's web site that includes information on the following:
• All approved sponsors, including the sponsors' processes for the following: monitoring approved schools at regular intervals; establishing minimum standards for renewing a charter or not renewing a charter; processes and standards for school closure, including the transfer of academic records to other schools and postsecondary educational institutions.
• All pending applications for a charter.
• All approved applications for a charter.
• All rejected applications for a charter.
• Annual performance data that includes the same demographic and performance data required from school corporations.

The law requires authorizers to submit an annual report to the state department of education that contains the following information: results of all standardized testing, end of course assessments, and any other assessments used for each sponsored school; a description of the educational methods and teaching methods employed for each sponsored school, attendance rates for each sponsored school, graduation rates (if appropriate), including attainment of Core 40 and academic honors diplomas for each sponsored school, and student enrollment data for each sponsored schools (including the number of students enrolled and the number of students expelled), and schools that closed or for which the charter was not renewed, and the reasons for the closure or nonrenewal.

The law provides that the state board of education may, after giving at least thirty days notice, require an authorizer to appear at a hearing conducted by the state board if the authorizer has renewed a charter or failed to close a charter school that does not meet the minimum standards in the charter agreement, as posed on the state department of education's web site.

The law provides that the state board may, after the hearing, implement one or more of the following actions unless the state board finds sufficient justification for the charter school's performance under the state school accountability system:
• Transfer the sponsorship of the charter school to the state charter board.
• Order the closure of the charter school on the date set by the state board.
• Order the reduction of any administrative fee collected under state law that is applicable to the charter school to an amount not greater than fifty percent of the amount allowed under state law.

In determining whether to impose consequences, the law requires state board to consider the following:
• Enrollment of students with special challenges such as drug or alcohol addiction, prior withdrawal from school, prior incarceration, or other special circumstances.
• High mobility of the student population resulting from the specific purpose of the charter school.
• Annual improvement in the performance of students enrolled in the charter school compared with the performance of students enrolled in the charter school in the immediately preceding school year.

According to state law, if the state board has closed or transferred sponsorship of at least twenty-five percent of the charter schools chartered by one authorizer, the authorizer's ability to authorize new charter schools may be suspended by the state board until the state board approves the authorizer to authorize new charter schools.  The law provides that a determination to suspend an authorizer’s ability to authorize new charter schools must identify the deficiencies that, if corrected, will result in the approval of the authorizer to authorize new charter schools.

Indiana law allows all authorizers except local school boards to withhold up to 3% of a school’s funding as an administrative fee.     

The law provides that an authorizer's administrative fee may not include any costs incurred in delivering services that a charter school may purchase at its discretion from the authorizer.  It provides that the authorizer shall use its funding provided under this section exclusively for the purpose of fulfilling authorizing obligations.
    

The law provides that a charter school may not be required to purchase services from its authorizer as a condition of charter approval or of executing a charter contract, nor may any such condition be implied (except for oversight services).


The law allows a charter school to choose to purchase services from its authorizer.  In that event, the law requires the charter school and the authorizer to execute an annual service contract, separate from the charter contract, stating the parties' mutual agreement concerning the services to be provided by the authorizer and any service fees to be charged to the charter school.  The law states that an authorizer may not charge more than market rates for services provided to a charter school.
    

According to the law, not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, each authorizer shall provide to each charter school it authorizes an itemized accounting of the actual costs of services purchased by the charter school from the authorizer.  The law states that any difference between the amount initially charged to the charter school and the actual cost shall be reconciled and paid to the owed party.  If either party disputes the itemized accounting, any charges included in the accounting, or charges to either party, the law allows either party to request a review by the state department of education and requires the requesting party to pay the costs of the review.

Indiana law provides application elements for all schools.

Indiana law provides application elements specific to conversion schools.

Indiana law requires public university authorizers to conduct a public meeting with public notice in the county where a charter school will be located before authorizing such school.

Before issuing a charter, the law requires all authorizers but the Indianapolis Mayor to conduct a public hearing concerning the establishment of the proposed charter school.  At the public hearing, the law requires the governing body of the school district in which the proposed charter school will be located be given an opportunity to comment on the effect of the proposed charter school on the school corporation, including any foreseen negative impacts on the school district.

Indiana law requires authorizers to notify an applicant of the acceptance or rejection of the proposal not later than 75 days after the application is submitted.  It also requires authorizers to notify the state department of education of receipt of a proposal, acceptance of a proposal, and rejection of a proposal, including the reasons for the rejection.

Indiana law allows applicants to appeal rejected proposals to a state charter school review panel.

Indiana law requires public university authorizers to conduct a public meeting with public notice in the county where a charter school will be located before authorizing such school.

Indiana law requires authorizers to notify an applicant of the acceptance or rejection of the proposal not later than 75 days after the application is submitted. It also requires authorizers to notify the state department of education of receipt of a proposal, acceptance of a proposal, and rejection of a proposal, including the reasons for the rejection.

Indiana law allows applicants to appeal rejected proposals to a state charter school review panel.

Indiana law requires a “charter” (which serves as the “charter contract”).

Indiana law requires the charter to define the roles, powers, and responsibilities for the school and its authorizer.   

Indiana law requires the charter to set forth the methods by which the charter school will be held accountable for achieving the educational mission and goals of the charter school, including evidence of improvement in assessment measures (including the ISTEP and end of course assessment), attendance rates, graduation rates (if appropriate), increased numbers of Core 40 diplomas and other college and career ready indicators including advanced placement participation and passage, dual credit participation and passage, and International Baccalaureate participation and passage (if appropriate), increased numbers of academic honors and technical honors diplomas (if appropriate), student academic growth, financial performance and stability, and governing board performance and stewardship, including compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and charter terms.

The law requires a charter school to set annual performance targets in conjunction with the charter school’s authorizer that are designed to help each school meet applicable, federal, state, and authorizer expectations.

The law requires that minimum standards for renewal and the standards to avoid closure imposed by authorizers on the charter school in the charter school agreement must include a requirement that the charter school not fall within the application of a state law for chronically low-performing public schools.

Indiana law provides that a charter may be granted for not less than three years.  In practice, most charters have seven-year terms.

The law requires authorizers to submit an annual report to the state department of education that contains the following information: results of all standardized testing, end of course assessments, and any other assessments used for each sponsored school; a description of the educational methods and teaching methods employed for each sponsored school, attendance rates for each sponsored school, graduation rates (if appropriate), including attainment of Core 40 and academic honors diplomas for each sponsored school, and student enrollment data for each sponsored schools (including the number of students enrolled and the number of students expelled), and schools that closed or for which the charter was not renewed, and the reasons for the closure or nonrenewal.

Indiana law requires authorizers to oversee a charter's compliance with applicable laws and the charter application.

Under state law, a charter must meet generally accepted government accounting principles or face revocation.

Indiana law is silent on authorizer notification to their schools of perceived problems, with opportunities to remedy such problems and authorizer authority to take appropriate corrective actions or exercise sanctions short of revocation.  In practice, however, authorizers have investigated schools, mandated corrective actions, and placed others on probation.  Schools typically comply out of fear of nonrenewal or revocation.

The law does not require schools seeking renewal to apply for it. In practice, however, most authorizers require schools to do so.Current Indiana law provides that a charter may be revoked for failure to comply with the conditions established in the charter, failure to meet educational goals established in the charter, failure to comply with all applicable laws, failure to meet generally accepted accounting principles, and if one or more grounds for revocation exist as specified in the charter.

Indiana law provides that a charter may be granted for not less than three years.

Indiana law includes none of the model law's provisions for educational service providers. However, in practice, the state allows all types of educational service providers to operate all or parts of charter schools. Also in practice, the Indianapolis mayor's office has a requirement in which it must sign off on a charter school's contract with an educational service provider.

Under Indiana law, a charter school may sue or be sued, acquire property, convey property and enter into contracts in its own name, including contracts for services.

Indiana law requires all charter schools to be open to any student who resides in Indiana.  

Indiana law stipulates that if more applications are received than available slots, then each applicant will receive equal consideration.  

Indiana law provides that charters may have enrollment preferences for previously enrolled students at conversions, students enrolled at a charter school the previous year, and siblings of students enrolled at a charter school.

Indiana law provides that a charter school may operate as a single gender school if approved to do so by the authorizer.  It provides that a single gender charter school must be open to any student of the gender the school serves who resides in Indiana.

Indiana law provides that any state statute applicable to a governing body or school corporation, a rule or guideline adopted by the state board of education, a rule or guideline adopted by the professional standards board (except for those rules that assist a teacher in gaining or renewing a standard or advanced license) and a local regulation or policy adopted by a school district unless specifically incorporated in the charter do not apply to a charter school, except for the following statutes, rules and guidelines: required audits by the state board of accounts; unified accounting system; special education; criminal history; subjecting to laws requiring regulation by state agencies; voiding of teacher contract when two contracts are signed; nondiscrimination for teacher marital status; teacher freedom of association; school counselor immunity; compulsory school attendance; limitations on employment of children; student due process and judicial review; firearms and deadly weapons; health and safety measures; reporting of student violations of law; patriotic commemorative observances; assessment programs, including remediation under the assessment programs; parental access to education records; and accountability for school performance and improvement.  

In addition, the following statutes, rules and guidelines apply to conversion charter schools: teacher contracts, cancellation of teacher contracts, contracts with school administrators, salary and related payments, and conditions of employment.

Indiana law provides that at least 90% of the individuals who teach full time in a charter school must either be certified or be in the process of obtaining a license to teach through the transition to teaching program unless the charter school request and the state board approves a waiver for a lower percentage. For those in the transition to teaching program, it provides that licenses must be obtained within three years of beginning to teach at a charter school.  

The law provides that an individual who does not meet these requirements may teach full time in a charter school if the individual meets one of the following criteria:
  the individual is in the process of obtaining a license to teach in a charter school in Indiana; the individual holds at least a bachelor's degree with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale from an accredited postsecondary educational institution in the content or related area in which the individual teaches.
  

The law provides that individuals qualifying under these requirements may not exceed 10% of the full time teaching staff unless the charter school requests and the state board approves a waiver for a higher percentage.

The law provides that an individual who holds a part-time teaching position in a charter school must hold at least a bachelor's degree with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale from an accredited postsecondary educational institution in the content or related area in which the individual teaches.

Indiana law provides that charter schools are exempt from district collective bargaining agreements.

Indiana law is silent regarding these arrangements.

Indiana law is silent about charter eligibility and access.

Indiana law addresses special education, but is unclear about responsibility for providing services and funding for low-incident, high- cost services. In practice, however, the state holds charter schools to the same standard as traditional schools and receive the same level of funding for low-incident, high-cost services.

Indiana law grants charters access to most state and federal funding.  However, there are still glaring deficiencies in the funding provided to charters, including that charters do not receive local tax levies for transportation and facilities and do not have access to the local capital funds for insurance costs.

In a recent national study of charter school funding (Charter School Funding: Inequity Persists, 2010), Indiana charter schools were receiving on average $9,328 per pupil, while traditional public schools would have received $9,834 for those students.  As a result, the state's charter schools were receiving $506 per pupil - or 5.1% - less than what the traditional public schools would have received for those students.  This figure includes all sources of funding, and analysis reveals continued inequities for operational, categorical, and capital funding (see component #19 for information on capital issues).

Indiana law establishes the charter school facilities assistance program to make grants and loans to charter schools for the purpose of constructing, purchasing, renovating, maintaining, paying first semester costs for new, and reducing common school fund debt for charter schools.  Indiana provided $17 million to this program in 2011.

Indiana law grants charter schools located in Indianapolis the ability to obtain facilities financing from the local public improvement bond bank and all other charter schools the ability to obtain financing through the Indiana Bond Bank. Indiana law provides that charter schools have the moral obligation pledge of the City or State to debt issued through these authorities.

Indiana law provides that a local school board must make available for lease or purchase to any charter school any school building owned by the school district that was previously used for classroom instruction if it is not used in whole or in part for classroom instruction at the time the charter school seeks to lease the building or it appears on the list of available school buildings compiled by the state department of education.

The law provides that each local school board must inform the state department of education whenever a school building that was previously used for classroom instruction is closed, unused, or unoccupied.  The law requires the state department of education to maintain a list of closed, unused, or unoccupied school buildings and make the list available on the department's web site. The law requires each school district to provide a list of closed, unused, or unoccupied buildings to the department by the date set by the department.  It requires the department to update the list each year before August 31.

According to the law, a school building that appears for the first time on the department's list must be designated as "Unavailable until (a date two (2) years after the school building first appears on the list)" if the local school board that owns the school building indicates the school building may be reclaimed during that period for classroom instruction, which must begin not later than one year after the school building is reclaimed.  If the school building remains unused for classroom instruction one year after being reclaimed, the local school board must place the school building on the department's list.  A local school board may reclaim a school building only one time.

The law provides that if a charter school wishes to use a school building on the list created by the state department of education, the charter school must send a letter of intent to the department.  The department must notify the school district of the charter school's intent, and the school district that owns the school building must lease the school building to the charter school for $1 per year for as long as the charter school uses the school building for classroom instruction or for a term at the charter school's discretion, or sell the school building to the charter school for $1.  The charter school must begin to use the school building for classroom instruction not later than two years after acquiring the school building.  If the school building is not used for classroom instruction within two years after acquiring the school building, the school building shall be placed on the department's list.  If during the term of the lease the charter school closes or ceases using the school building for classroom instruction, the school building shall be placed on the department's list.

According to the law, during the term of a lease, the charter school is responsible for the direct expenses related to the school building leased, including utilities, insurance, maintenance, repairs, and remodeling.  The school district is responsible for any debt incurred for or liens that attached to the school building before the charter school leased the school building.    

The law provides that if a school building appears on the department's list for at least 48 months, the school district may sell or otherwise dispose of the school building in any manner the local school board considers appropriate.

Indiana law provides charter schools the option to participate in relevant employee retirement systems in a similar manner to all other public schools.