2024-2025 Enrollment & Lottery Information

Public Random Drawing Procedure (as outlined in the approved OCCA Charter Petition)

Applications are accepted during a publicly advertised open enrollment period each year forenrollment in the following school year. Information about the lottery process, including timelines, will be posted in English and Spanish on the Academy’s website, on social media accounts, at each campus, and at public locations in Orange County consistent with the Academy’s recruitment strategies as described in Element H. All promotional material shall clearly state the charter school will serve ALL students. Following the open enrollment period each year, applications are counted to determine whether any grade level at any campus has received more applications than availability. In the event that this happens, the Academy holds a public random drawing (or “lottery”) for each campus to determine admission for the impacted grade level, with the exception of existing students, who are guaranteed admission in the following school year at the campus they currently attend. Admission preferences in the case of a public random drawing shall be given to the following students in the following order:

• Children of staff and of Board Members of the Academy

• Siblings of students admitted to or attending the Academy

• If the Academy operates a campus that is physically located in the attendance area of a district-operated public elementary school in which at least 55% of the enrollment is eligible for free and reduced price lunch, then students currently enrolled in that school and students who reside in that elementary school attendance area will be given preference to attend such campus operated by the Academy in accordance with Education Code Section 47614.5(c)(2) (for purposes of the SB 740 Charter School Facility Grant Program)*For the 2022-23 school year only, students currently attending OCCA I shall be deemed “existing students.”

• Students who reside in the County This policy shall provide admission preference for employees (first preference) and Board members (second preference) who are hired or appointed after the lottery is conducted, meaning that if spaces open up after the lottery is conducted, the Academy will fill the spaces with students in these groups before drawing from the waitlist.

As set forth in Education Code Section 47605.6(e)(2)(B)(iii), the Academy’s random drawing

preferences shall not result in limiting enrollment access for pupils with disabilities, academically low-achieving pupils, English learners, neglected or delinquent pupils, homeless pupils, or pupils who are economically disadvantaged, as determined by eligibility for any

free or reduced-price meal program, foster youth, or pupils based on nationality, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

The Academy and the County agree to adhere to the requirements related to admission preferences as set forth in Education Code Section 47605.6(e)(2)(B)(i)-(iv).

The Board 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 and each campus 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 for each campus, in the order that the campus first opened for operation. For a student who has applied to attend multiple campuses, if their

name is drawn at their first choice campus, their name shall be taken out of subsequent lotteries. There is no weighted priority assigned to the preference categories; rather, within each grade level, students will be drawn from pools beginning with all applicants who qualify for the first preference category, and shall continue with that reference category until all vacancies within that grade level have been filled. If all students from the preference category have been selected and there are remaining spaces available in that grade level, students 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.

Waiting List

All applications drawn after reaching capacity in any grade level will be placed on a wait-list for each respective grade level, in order in which they are drawn. If a vacancy occurs, the Academy shall notify the parent or guardian by phone and letter and provide the parents with 72 hours to enroll their student in the Academy. If a student applied to attend more than one campus at the Academy and is offered a spot at more than one campus at the Academy, they must elect a particular campus to attend within the same timeframe. If the parent or guardian does not contact the Academy to accept the position for their student within this period, the academy shall contact the parent or guardian for the next student on the wait-list for that grade level. The Academy

maintains copies of documents relating to the lottery on file for one academic year to demonstrate the fair execution of lottery procedures. Parents or guardians are encouraged to regularly contact the Academy to obtain information about their child’s position on the waitlist.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Academy may refine lottery policies and procedures in accordance with policies adopted by the Board of Directors. A copy of the revised policy, which may be designed to improve the Academy’s lottery efforts, shall be provided to the County within 45 calendar days of approval by the Board and prior to the enrollment period of the year in which the revised lottery policy will be implemented. Public random drawing rules, deadlines, dates and times will be communicated in the application form and on the Academy’s website. Public notice for the date and time of the public random drawing will also be posted once the application deadline has passed. The Academy 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.