Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 12, March 20, 2024
If the number of timely submitted applications of eligible
students for admission to a charter school exceeds the capacity of the grade
level of a charter school (or building if the school does not distinguish
between grades), students shall be accepted for admission from among such
applicants by a random selection process (lottery) pursuant to the requirements
of this section.
(a) Preferences.
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this
section, a charter school shall provide an enrollment preference to:
(i) pupils returning to the charter school in
the second or any subsequent year of operation;
(ii) pupils residing in the school district
in which the charter school is located, or in the case of the City School
District of the City of New York, pupils residing in the community school
district in which the charter school is located; and
(iii) siblings of pupils already enrolled in
the charter school.
(2)
Establishment of specific school design. Consistent with the requirements of
Federal law and with the school design described in the school's charter, a
charter school may also establish a single-sex charter school and/or establish
enrollment preferences for students at-risk of academic failure, students with
disabilities and English language learners.
(b) Notice. The charter school shall provide
public notice of the date, time and place of the lottery, consistent with
Public Officers Law section 104 and if such lottery is provided during a school
closure ordered pursuant to an Executive Order of the Governor pursuant to a
State of emergency for the COVID-19 crisis, such notice shall also be posted on
the charter school's website.
(c)
Procedures for conducting lottery.
(1) The
person(s) conducting the selection of lottery applicants or acting as an
impartial observer of the selection of lottery applicants shall not be a board
member or employee of the school, or a parent, person in parental relationship,
grandparent, sibling, aunt, uncle or first cousin of any applicant to the
school or of any pupil enrolled in the school.
(2) The lottery shall be held in a space that
is open and accessible to the public and capable of accommodating the
reasonably anticipated number of attendees. If the reasonably anticipated
attendance exceeds capacity, separate grade level lotteries may be held in
separate locations provided that each lottery is publicized in a manner
consistent with the requirements of Public Officers Law section 104. Nothing
herein shall be construed to require or exclude attendance at the lottery by
parents, persons in parental relationships, guardians and/or students
participating in the admissions process. Consistent with Executive Order No.
202.1, if such lottery occurs during a school closure ordered pursuant to an
Executive Order of the Governor for the COVID-19 crisis, such lottery may be
held remotely by conference call or similar service, provided that the public
has the opportunity to view or listen and such lottery is recorded and later
transcribed.
(3) A charter school
may structure the actual lottery process in any manner consistent with its
approved admissions policy and this section.
(4) The random process used in the lottery
may be generated by any traditional lottery ball system, technology-based
software, paper ticket process or other methodology which generates random
results.
(d) Records.
The charter school shall document the lottery process, and make such records
available to the department and/or the charter authorizing entity upon request.
Records shall be sufficiently detailed to enable the reviewer to identify the
process used, compare the process used to the lottery procedures contained in
the charter school's charter, and determine that the procedures used were
consistent with those set forth in the charter.