(a) The department shall establish:

(1) Procedures to determine student eligibility in accordance with the requirements established by this part;

(2)

(A) An application form that a parent of a student or a student who has reached eighteen (18) years of age may submit to the department to determine the student's eligibility for an ESA and make the application form readily available on the department's website;

(B) An application process that provides a timeline, before the start of the school year for which an application is being submitted, when a parent of a student, or a student who has reached eighteen (18) years of age, as applicable, must submit an application to participate in the program. If the application is approved, then the student may participate in the program beginning with the school year identified in the application. If a participating student exits the program, then the student's parent, or the student, as applicable, may reapply to participate in the program in accordance with the application process and timeline established by the department under this subdivision (a)(2)(B);

(3) An approval process for a Category I, II, or III private school to become a participating school;

(4) An application form that a Category I, II, or III private school may submit to the department to become a participating school and make the application form readily available on the department's website;

(5) An annual application period for a parent of a student, or a student who has reached eighteen (18) years of age, to apply for the program; and

(6) An income-verification process for a parent of a participating student who is seventeen (17) years of age or younger, or a participating student who has reached eighteen (18) years of age, as applicable, to verify that the participating student's household income meets the requirements of § 49-6-2602(3)(D).

(b) The program shall begin enrolling participating students no later than the 2021-2022 school year.

(c) The number of participating students enrolled in the program must not exceed:

(1) For the first school year of operation, five thousand (5,000) students;

(2) For the second school year of operation, seven thousand five hundred (7,500) students;

(3) For the third school year of operation, ten thousand (10,000) students;

(4) For the fourth school year of operation, twelve thousand five hundred (12,500) students; and

(5) For the fifth school year of operation, and for each school year thereafter, fifteen thousand (15,000) students.

(d)

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (c), if, in the application period for a school year, the number of program applications received by the department does not exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the maximum number of students that may participate in the program for that school year under subsection (c), then the maximum number of students that may participate in the program for that school year must remain in place for subsequent school years until the number of applications during a subsequent program application period exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of that maximum number.

(2) Once the number of applications during a subsequent program application period exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of the maximum number that has remained in place under subdivision (d)(1), then, during the next school year for which an increase is practicable, the maximum number of students that may participate in the program for that school year shall increase to the number of students provided for under subsection (c) that is in excess of the most recent maximum number of students allowed to participate in the program.

(3) This subsection (d) is subject to the caps on the maximum number of students that may participate in the program for a particular school year under subsection (c).

(e) If, in the application period for a school year, the number of program applications received by the department exceeds the maximum number of students that may participate in the program for that school year under subsection (c), then the department shall select students for participation in the program through an enrollment lottery process. Students who participated in the program in the previous school year receive enrollment preference and, as a result, are excluded from entering into an enrollment lottery. If an enrollment lottery is conducted, then enrollment preference must be granted in the following order:

(1) Students who have a sibling participating in the program;

(2) Students zoned to attend a priority school as defined by the state's accountability system pursuant to § 49-1-602;

(3) Students eligible for direct certification under 42 U.S.C. § 1758(b)(4); and

(4) All other eligible students.