Middle-school lotteries set for April 17 as requests exceed seats at multiple Revere schools

The Revere School Committee was given a detailed update March 18 on the district's middle-school lottery process and preliminary counts for the April 17 lotteries.

The lottery, scheduled for 5 p.m. April 17 in the School Committee Room and broadcast live, will cover nine lotteries across the district. Staff warned that numbers provided are preliminary and will be rechecked multiple times before the draw.

District staff explained that available seats are generally divided evenly among three middle-school options (Garfield, Romney Marsh Academy and Susan B. Anthony); special-education placements are determined by team placements and are not subject to the lottery.

Using Paul Revere as an example, staff said there are 75 non-special-program fifth graders and 25 seats apportioned to each middle school. "We are over 18 seats," a staff member said, meaning 18 students who identified a first choice that is oversubscribed will be assigned to alternate schools.

The committee also reviewed school-level counts: Garfield Elementary will run two lotteries (for Garfield Middle and Romney Marsh Academy), the Hill will have a lottery to Susan B. Anthony, and the Lincoln and Beechmont each have lotteries where first-choice requests exceed available seats at some schools. Staff said sibling preference (for children who will have older siblings in grades 7 or 8) and employee preference for staff children are applied prior to random selection.

Committee members asked about second-choice ranking when multiple schools still have space; staff explained that after filling first-choice slots in draw order, the district proceeds down each drawn student's second choice until seats are filled.

Staff emphasized that the numbers presented are preliminary and that the enrollment office will verify and correct forms several more times before the April draw.