Elite S. F. school open to lottery
Proposal would give all freshmen a chance at Lowell High this fall
San Francisco school officials dropped a bombshell proposal Friday, recommending that admissions to the academically exclusive Lowell High School be subject to random lottery for the fall, meaning all entering freshmen would have equal odds of getting in regardless of grades or test scores.
District officials told The Chronicle that the recommendation is yet more fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Lowell generally admits students based on a score that takes into account gradepoint average and test results while setting aside a limited number of spots for qualified students from underrepresented schools. But Lowell continues to be largely white and Asian, with few other people of color.
The school has long been at the center of a debate about elitism and equal opportunity, and its admission process has been under scrutiny in the past. Though the new proposal was not driven by a push to increase diversity, that could be an outcome.
Officials said the new policy is needed because there is no
way to adequately assess students for admission given the lack of letter grades from the spring semester, when the district used pass/ fail grades after schools closed, and the district’s inability to administer standardized tests during the pandemic.
The school is considered one of the best public high schools in the country and has a long history of churning out successful and illustrious alumni, including U. S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, former California Gov. Pat Brown, late private equity financier Warren Hellman, Giants CEO Larry Baer and actress Carol Channing.
The random lottery admissions process would be in place for one year, although that could change depending on the coronavirus, officials said.
The proposal, which will be vetted by the board’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, with a final vote expected Oct. 20, is likely to disappoint highachieving eighthgrade students.
If the proposal is approved, their admission to Lowell would be entirely random.
“The board isn’t doing this to people, the staff isn’t doing this to people,” said school board President Mark Sanchez. “COVID is doing this to people.”
Sanchez acknowledged, however, that Lowell is a “sacred cow” in San Francisco, and he anticipates a big public turnout during the online committee meeting Tuesday.
“I get it,” he said. “But we’re in a bind, and the circumstances were not of our choosing. If COVID hadn’t happened, this wouldn’t be on the table.”
Not everyone believes this would be temporary, given the school board’s efforts in the past to modify the admissions policy to increase diversity.
“I think they’re using the pandemic as a catalyst to do this,” said parent Todd David, whose daughter is a sophomore at the school. “I’ve been around long enough to know this is the beginning of the end of Lowell High School as we know it.”
District officials said that options other than lottery, including having teachers or principals select students on academic merit, would be difficult if not impossible to implement under the current timeline and pandemic logistics.
A change to the admissions policy has to happen soon, given the time needed to inform families, said Bill Sanderson, district assistant superintendent of high schools. Information about the high school enrollment process is already starting to go out, with a virtual school fair on Nov. 7.
The first deadline to submit enrollment preferences for the fall of 2021 is Feb. 5. This year, 900 students were admitted to Lowell’s freshman class out of about 2,000 applicants, with about 650 enrolling.
The news was likely to be welcomed by parents and students who might have felt overlooked. However, officials acknowledged that if this policy passes there will be disappointment in admission being based on a lottery rather than academic prowess.
Parent Annika Ehrlich was among those concerned.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of families that will be disappointed,” she said, adding that she questioned why Lowell can’t find a way to admit students on academic merit if the private schools can. “I value public school in general and want my kids to attend public school, but I also want them to have the best education possible and be challenged.”
Her son, Loden, 13, is an eighthgrader at Roosevelt Middle School and said he’s been aiming to get into Lowell.
He said the proposal, however, makes sense given the difficulties of distance learning for many students and that it might be fairer to make it a random lottery.
“Of course, that wouldn’t be fair for the people who tried their best to get in,” he said. “The pandemic is messing everything up.”
Loden said he still plans to apply to Lowell, but said he has other options.
There has always been greater demand than seats at the selective school. Many students meet a set minimum score to attend, but do not make the cut because others who score higher filled the seats, officials said.
“But these families and students still have the opportunity to apply and be admitted to Lowell,” Sanderson said. “Every year there are some families that are disappointed. I want to honor that and acknowledge that.”
Lowell chemistry teacher Jonathan Fong said he supported the idea of a lottery for the ninthgrade class, saying all students “belong” at the school and could help lure underrepresented students to consider it.
“This is something new, something exciting,” he said. “Sometimes change brings about new opportunities.”
In the past, district officials have sought changes to the school’s admissions policy to help address disproportionate enrollment by race and other demographic factors.
More than half of the school’s 2,700 students were Asian Americans last year compared to 29% overall in the city’s district schools, while less than 2% were Black, even though nearly 8% of district students were African American.
Efforts to increase diversity or change the admissions process in the past have faced strong opposition from many in the community, including Lowell alumni, who feared altering the criteria for admission would water down the school’s elite reputation.
Lowell Principal Dacotah Swett said the lottery system could mean a ninthgrade class that more closely represents San Francisco — and that won’t mean lowering standards, but rather supporting all students to meet the challenge.
“In a sense, there’s an element to me that’s kind of exciting,” she said. “I champion the underdog kind of kid. People counted you out, and you were like, ‘ No, I’m going to do this.’ ”
That means helping any and all students succeed, Sanderson said.
“I think it’s really important to emphasize that Lowell is a public school that is committed to serving the students who walk in the door,” he said.
In other words, whoever gets into the school through the lottery will be a Lowell Cardinal, Swett said.
“I’m a great believer in the American dream, that if you build it they will come, and people will rise to the challenge,” she said. “As a public institution, that seems like a good thing.”