Lottery Charter Petition Language

Public Random Drawing

If the number of scholars who wish to attend the Charter School exceeds the Charter School’s capacity, admission, except for existing scholars of CCS, who are guaranteed admission in the following school year, shall be determined by a public random drawing (“lottery”). In the case of a public random drawing, the following scholars will be given preference in admission to the Charter School, in the following order: 

1. Siblings of scholars admitted to or attending CCS 
2. Children of Charter School staff 
3. Residents of Authorizing Districts
4. All other applicants 

The Charter School and the District agree to adhere to the requirements related to admission preferences as set forth in Education Code Section 47605(e)(2)(B)(i)-(iv).

The Board of Directors will take all necessary efforts to ensure lottery procedures are fairly executed. Lottery spaces are pulled in order of grade level by the designated lottery official (appointed by the Superintendent). Separate lotteries shall be conducted for each grade in which there are fewer vacancies than pupils interested in attending. All lotteries shall take place on the same day in a single location. Lotteries will be conducted in ascending order beginning with the lowest applicable grade level. There is no weighted priority assigned to the preference categories; rather, within each grade level, scholars will be drawn from pools beginning with all applicants who qualify for the first preference category, and shall continue with that preference category until all vacancies within that grade level have been filled. If there are more scholars in a preference category than there are spaces available, a random drawing will be held from within that preference group until all available spaces are filled. If all scholars from the preference category have been selected and there are remaining spaces available in that grade level, scholars from the second preference category will be drawn in the lottery, and the drawing shall continue until all spaces are filled and preference categories are exhausted in the order provided above. 

All applications drawn after reaching capacity will be placed on a wait list, in the order in which they are drawn. This wait list will allow scholars the option of enrollment in the case of an opening during the current school year. In no circumstance will a wait list carry over to the following school year. 

Public random drawing rules, deadlines, dates and times will be communicated in the application form and on CCS’ website.  Public notice for the date and time of the public random drawing will also be posted once the application deadline has passed. CCS will also inform parents of all applicants and all interested parties of the rules to be followed during the public random drawing process via mail or email at least two weeks prior to the lottery date. 

If a lottery is needed, the Charter School will conduct the lottery in the spring for enrollment in fall of that year.