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<br />of the town must be given preference for enrollment before accepting <br />pupils by lot. If a pupil lives . within two miles of a charter school and the <br />next closest public school is morethan five miles away, the charter school <br />must give those pupils preference for enrollment before accepting other <br />pupils by lot. <br /> <br />A charter school shall give preference for enrollment to a sibling of an <br />enrolled pupil and to a foster child of that pupil's parents before accepting <br />other pupils by lot. <br /> <br />A charter school may not limit admission to pupils on the basis of <br />intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, or athletic ability. <br /> <br />As is evident in the text, the statute requires a charter school to provide two forms of <br /> <br />preference in admission: (1) preference to a pupil who lives within 2 miles of the school where <br /> <br />the next closest public school is more than 5 miles away (the "Proximity Preference"); and (2) <br /> <br />preference to a pupil who is a sibling of an enrolled pupil or a foster child of the same parents as <br /> <br />an ernolled pupil (the "Sibling Preference"). The statute then provides one additional form of <br /> <br />preference if the school is located in a "town": (3) preference to pupils that are residents of that <br /> <br />town (the "Town Preference"). <br /> <br />The PACT charter school is located in the city, not town, of Ramsey. Cities and towns <br /> <br />are separate. and distinct forms of governmental entities in Minnesota. A town is organized <br /> <br />under Minnesota law and is specifically defined as a public corporation with certain duties and <br /> <br />powers. See Minn. Stat. S 365.02. Towns as political subdivisions are distinct from cities in <br /> <br />geography, governance and manner of operation. See also, Minn. Stat. S 473.121, subd. 6 <br /> <br />(defining "local government unit" as "any county, city, town, school district, special district or <br /> <br />other political subdivision or public corporation. . . .") By using the work "city" and "town" <br /> <br />separately, policymakers dearly distinguish the two forms of local government. Cities thus are <br /> <br />not towns. <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />-129- <br />