School District Five details rezoning and school-choice lottery; district to issue Feb. 26 placement updates
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Summary
Superintendent Dr. Ross outlined the district's rezoning and magnet/choice lottery process, said a $9.6 million federal magnet grant supports choice placement, and staff will publish updated seat assignments following the Feb. 26 acceptance/decline period.
School District Five superintendent Dr. Ross told the board on Feb. 23 that the district is continuing a multi-step redistricting and school-choice process that includes a random lottery, an acceptance/decline window, and a subsequent preference placement phase for siblings, employees and certain programmatic needs.
At the meeting Dr. Ross described how the lottery itself is run “randomly” and said the district will not apply sibling or staff preferences during the initial random selection. "A lottery does not have preferences," he said, adding that the administration will place preferences—siblings, self-contained special-education classes and employee choice—after families accept or decline initial lottery offers and staff assess the remaining seats. The district plans another round of placement notices after the Feb. 26 acceptance period and intends to present a follow-up to trustees at its March 9 meeting.
Dr. Ross also said the district received a federal magnet grant to support the magnet application process and programming. As part of explaining the operational steps, he described the district's public outreach (mailers, lunch-and-learn sessions and website guidance) and said principals collaborated with administration to determine initial seat counts used in the lottery.
Trustees pushed for clearer language in board materials about who may remain at a school "to the highest grade" after rezoning. One trustee asked that item 5 be rewritten to say "newly zoned" to avoid the assumption that previously zoned students automatically retain attendance rights; Dr. Ross agreed to add that clarification.
Why it matters: The timing and wording of rezoning and choice materials affect families' expectations about where children will attend, who gets priority in oversubscribed programs and how special-education services are assigned. The board signaled it will continue monitoring placements and communications as additional rounds of acceptances and backfills are processed.
What's next: Staff said preference placements and seat assignments will continue through mid-July as the district finalizes contracts and staffing, with the next placement update following Feb. 26 and a trustees' update scheduled for March 9.