Committee adopts resident-seat allocation and weighted lottery for admissions, 6–2

The Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical School Committee voted Thursday to implement a resident community seat allocation procedure and a weighted lottery for admissions to the Class of 2026, a change administrators said will align the district with state regulations and aim to preserve equitable access across sending communities.

Lisa Martinez, the district’s director of enrollment, technology and information, explained the proposal and two late additions to the draft policy: the resident community seat allocation procedure (to be administered with an electronic random-number lottery) and expanded language on retention strategies that explicitly references the district curriculum accommodation plan (CAP) alongside the multi-tiered system of support.

Martinez said seat distribution would be calculated from the sending communities’ eighth-grade enrollment, using the October 1 SIMS report as the enrollment source. She said the district will apply DESE’s weighted criteria for the lottery; those criteria include measures such as attendance, student discipline and student interest, and are provided by DESE.

After brief discussion and repeated subcommittee review, a committee member moved to call the vote. The roll-call outcome was: Mister O'Mear — yes; Mister Baron — yes; Mister Richardson — yes; Mister Narco — yes; Mister Hogan — reluctantly yes; Mister Sheehan — no; Mister Kachan — no; Mister Moore — yes. The motion passed 6–2.

Committee members and staff said they expect to monitor how the lottery functions and for DESE to review outcomes; Martinez said the district will review and submit the policy annually.

The committee’s packet contains the full proposed admissions policy and the weighted criteria outlined by DESE.