(1) A school district shall be considered a rural school district if it meets one (1) of the following two (2) criteria: There are fewer than twenty (20) enrolled students per square mile within the area encompassed by the school district’s boundaries; or
(2) The county in which a plurality of the school district’s market value for assessment purposes is located contains less than twenty-five thousand (25,000) residents, based on the most recent decennial United States census.
(3) A public charter school shall be considered a rural public charter school if the school district in which the public charter school is physically located meets the definition of a rural school district, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. A public charter school that is also a virtual school shall be considered a rural public charter school if over fifty percent (50%) of its enrolled students reside within school districts that meet the definition of a rural school district pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.