(a) Each receiving local education agency shall adopt and make available a policy regarding the order in which applications for enrollment pursuant to this chapter shall be considered and the criteria by which such applications shall be evaluated. (b) Prior to the applicable application deadline established in § 403(a) of this title, each receiving district shall adopt and make available a policy establishing criteria for acceptance or rejection of applications and setting priorities for acceptances consistent with this section. Such criteria shall be reasonably related to the nature of the program or school for which the application is submitted and may not differ from the criteria used for acceptance or rejection of applications submitted by parents of children residing in the attendance zone of the school, if applicable, except that a district shall give priority to the following categories of students in the order listed: (1) First, to returning students who continue to meet the requirements for the program or school, including students graduating from 1 school to another within a single program; (2) Second, to students who meet the requirements for the program or school and who seek to attend based upon the residence of the student's parent within the designated feeder pattern, if any, for the school; and (3) Third, to the siblings of students currently enrolled in the school or in a program in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section who will be returning to the school for the following academic year, provided that any siblings seeking priority under this paragraph meet the requirements for the program or school. Priority must be given to siblings of students who live in the reorganized school district where the school is located, and may be given to siblings of students who do not live in the reorganized school district where the school is located. In addition to the above a receiving district may next give priority to students who have designated the program or school as a first, second, or third choice; to students who live within the district; to military-connected students who are the dependents of an active service member of the United States military, the Delaware National Guard, or a reserve component of the United States military; and to children of school employees; as long as they otherwise meet the criteria of the program or school. After a receiving district has admitted all qualifying students consistent with the criteria in this subsection, the receiving district, shall use a lottery process to admit additional students and generate a ranked waiting list. The Department may verify the randomness of the lottery process. (c) Each receiving local education agency shall accept applications, in a manner consistent with the policy adopted pursuant to this subsection, until there is a lack of capacity in each school and program. Students who meet the receiving local education agency's criteria for acceptance in the policy but who are not selected due to a lack of capacity in the school or program shall be placed on a ranked waiting list maintained by the receiving local education agency until the first day of the receiving local education agency's school year for which they applied. (d) Consistent with subsection (b) of this section, a receiving local education agency may disapprove an application because of lack of capacity in a particular program or school. For purposes of this section, "capacity" means the maximum number of students that a program or school can contain as determined solely by considerations of physical space, physical resources, specific program requirements, and class size for each grade level. For the purposes of this section, "lack of capacity" means that the school or program calculates projected enrollment for the following academic year to be at least 85% of its capacity. (e) A district which is subject to a court-ordered desegregation plan may approve and disapprove applications in accordance with § 406(a) of this title.
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