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Ed board seeks feedback on lottery rules for vocational schools
Tutwiler says proposed rules balance attendance considerations
· Alison Kuznitz 11 mins ago
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 11, 2025….Education officials agreed Monday to seek public feedback on updated regulations incorporating a weighted lottery system into the admissions process for vocational schools, after advocates decried a previous proposal they argued could still limit access for students from low-income communities.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted Monday night to launch a 60-day public comment period in connection with the latest regulatory reforms designed to ensure that more middle school students have the opportunity to enter career technical education (CTE) schools and programs.
CTE schools and programs with waitlists would be required to use a weighted lottery admission process. Students who earn more weight in the lottery would increase their likelihood of going to vocational schools under several criteria.
Applicants without "major disciplinary infractions" would earn an extra weight, as well as those without 27 or more unexcused absences over the past 270 school days. But students cannot be barred from entering the lottery due to unexcused absences and disciplinary infractions.
"A student with two extra weights is three times as likely to be admitted than a student with no extra weights," according to a memo to BESE members last week. "This approach would acknowledge students’ positive attendance and discipline records while keeping the pathway to admission open to all who apply."
Officials last month announced their intent to roll out the lottery admission process, though with tighter restrictions in which vocational schools could exclude students from the lottery with 10 or more unexcused absences per school year and those who were suspended or expelled for more than 10 days.
While those regulations sought to decouple admissions from attendance and discipline records, the Vocational Education Justice Coalition (VEJC) warned the change would still result "in the same discriminatory selection pattern" for admitted students. The coalition pointed out that students with at least 10 unexcused absences tend to come from school districts with larger populations of color, meaning those individuals would be disqualified from the lottery "in disproportionate percentages."
"Today’s proposed regulations aim to make sure that past attendance is not a barrier to applying, while recognizing the importance of kids being in school," Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said in a statement Monday. "I look forward to hearing from students, schools, community members and other stakeholders during public comment and moving forward with an updated admissions policy that improves CTE access for all students."
Under the updated regulations, vocational schools could require students to indicate their interest in attending the programs, such as by submitting a presentation or personal essay. Schools would also need to host at least two open houses and at least three virtual information sessi
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ons each school year.
"We have heard feedback from the Board and stakeholders and believe today’s updated regulations will increase access to career technical education for all students," Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. "Our administration remains focused on improving career technical education admissions, while expanding the number of seats available statewide."
The VEJC thanked the Healey administration for proposing the weighted lottery but said more changes "are needed to make it a Blind Lottery so it is a completely fair policy."
"VEJC is researching the impact of the attendance threshold as to how many students would be made ineligible by this and will have more to say on this during the Public Comment period," said the coalition, which also expressed concern about applicants needing to show interest in attending CTE programs.
"The VEJC feels applying is enough of a level of interest and these other requirements of interest are unnecessary and may unfairly disqualify some students who cannot do them," advocates said.
Eric Duda, superintendent at Pathfinder Tech in Palmer, told BESE members the latest regulations take some major steps "backwards," including proposing a "lower standard for attendance."
"What message does this send about the importance of showing up to school in a form of education that requires one to be present to attain vocation skills, and why is this threshold being used in all districts, regardless of local data trends?" Duda said.
He also said the weighted lottery model needs additional scrutiny.
"It appears that the lottery allows all students access to admissions, but one factor about which I feel strongly is that students with serious violent offenses that pose a safety risk should still not be allowed into the applicant pool," Duda said.
A supplemental budget filed by Healey seeks $75 million for grants designed to add 3,000 new CTE seats over three years.
03/11/2025