Charter schools are publicly funded and open to all students in New York State through a non-discriminatory admissions lottery. Each charter school is governed by a not-for-profit board of trustees which may include educators, community members, and leaders from the private sector. Charters have freedom to establish their own policies, design their own educational program, and manage their human and financial resources. Charter schools are accountable, through the terms of a five-year performance contract, for high student achievement.

Any child eligible for admission to a traditional public school is eligible for admission to a charter public school. Admission to a charter school cannot be limited on the basis of disability, race, creed, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry, intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, or athletic ability. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available seats, a random selection process, such as a lottery, must be used. However, charter schools do give preferences to “at risk” students, siblings of students already enrolled in the charter school, and students living in the charter school’s school district of location.

If the number of eligible applications for admission exceeds the spaces available for students, a random lottery will be held on or after April 1 of each year. Such a lottery will be open to the public, and attended and/or audited by a representative of a disinterested outside organization. The enrollment preferences will be as follows: first preference will be given to students returning to the charter school; second preference will be given to siblings of students enrolled in the charter school; and third preference will be given to students residing in the Buffalo City School District. Separate waiting lists will be maintained for each grade level in the event that vacancies occur. The random lottery process used for student admission also will serve to place students in preferential order on these waiting lists. Whenever a vacancy occurs, either prior to the start of a particular school year or during the course of that school year, the school will contact the parent or guardian of the student next on the appropriate waiting list. Reasonable and multiple attempts will be made to contact the family of the student on the top of the waiting list and get confirmation of whether the student is still interested in enrolling at the charter school before proceeding to the next name on the list. If reasonable and multiple attempts to contact the student’s parents/guardians are unsuccessful, the school may remove that student from the waiting list. The school shall maintain documentation of the attempts made to contact the parents/guardians of any student removed from the waiting list. Waiting lists will not be carried over from year to year, but instead the waiting list for each year will be derived from the random lottery.