Sec. 7. (a) As used in this section, "accredited nonpublic school" means a nonpublic school that:
(1) has voluntarily become accredited under IC 20-31-4.1; or
(2) is accredited by a national or regional accrediting agency that is recognized by the state board.
(b) This section applies to a school building with a gross square footage of two hundred thousand (200,000) square feet or less.
(c) If the school corporation receives notification from the department that the department has not received any preliminary requests to purchase or lease a vacant or unused school building under section 4(c)(1) of this chapter or a charter school or state educational institution has not met the requirements under section 4(c)(2) or 4(e) of this chapter, the school corporation must sell the school building to an accredited nonpublic school or a postsecondary educational institution other than a state educational institution that sends a letter of intent to the school corporation to purchase the vacant or unused school building for an amount not more than the minimum bid for the vacant or unused school building determined in accordance with IC 36-1-11, or an amount agreed to by both parties.
(d) The accredited nonpublic school or postsecondary educational institution, other than a state educational institution, must submit its letter of intent to purchase the school building within thirty (30) days of the date the school corporation passes a resolution or takes other official action to close, no longer use, or no longer occupy a school building that was previously used for classroom instruction. However, in the event that a charter school or state educational institution has submitted a preliminary request to purchase or lease a school building, the accredited nonpublic school or postsecondary educational institution other than a state educational institution may send a letter of intent to purchase or lease the school building within ninety (90) days of the date that the school corporation passed a resolution or took official action to close, no longer use, or no longer occupy a school building.
(e) Within forty-five (45) days of notice of the minimum bid, the accredited nonpublic school or postsecondary educational institution other than a state educational institution must provide a binding offer to the school corporation to purchase the property in its current condition and provide a nonrefundable down payment equal to five percent (5%) of the minimum bid or an amount agreed to by both parties. In the event that two (2) or more binding offers are submitted to the school corporation under this subsection, the school corporation may select which offer to accept.
(f) If the sale of the property does not close within one hundred eighty (180) days of the school corporation's receipt of the binding offer, and the delay in closing is not caused by the school corporation or its representatives, the school corporation may refund the down payment and sell or otherwise dispose of the school building under IC 20-25-4-14, IC 20-26-5-4(a)(7), or IC 36-1-11.
As added by P.L.270-2019, SEC.13. Amended by P.L.92-2020, SEC.28; P.L.155-2021, SEC.7.