The executive director or his designee shall select the program participants from among those applicants who meet the eligibility criteria established pursuant to N.J.S. 18A:71C-34, subject to available funds and available approved sites. In the event that there are insufficient funds or approved sites to select all of the applicants who meet the eligibility criteria, the executive director or his designee shall accord priority to applicants in the following manner:
In the event that there are more applicants who have the same priority than there are program positions, the executive director or his designee shall select program participants by means of a lottery or other form of random selection.
N.J.S. § 18A:71C-40