Once you submit them, you'll be placed in a priority group based on the circumstances of your request. Lotteries are drawn group by group and anyone still left out is ranked on the waiting list for their group. The process of final placement can take months, with so many parents choosing, hearing, appealing and waiting. Once priority groups are established, the process gets intense. The district notifies all students of their status, then the whole operation pauses.
Principals tackle the waiting lists for their schools.
Parents may have just one day to grab a spot that's offered. Those who deny an offer are dropped from the list. Those who can't be reached aren't dropped, but someone below them on the list might get their spot. Students who score a spot in a school other than their residence school forfeit their original residence status. If they change their minds they must reapply to the residence school.