Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical runs public, state-mandated blind lottery after rule change

Greater Lowell Regional Vocational Technical held a public virtual admissions lottery for its Class of 2030 Grade 9 seats after the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education in May 2025 approved updated regulations requiring career technical education schools with excess applicants to use a blind or weighted lottery.

"This year, Greater Lowell Technical High School received over 1,200 applications for the expected 595 available Grade 9 seats," Superintendent Director Jill Davis said, framing the drawing as a response to growing demand for career technical education. Davis also said the district’s policy, approved in October 2025, implements the state requirement that when applicants exceed available seats the district use a weighted lottery and require a demonstration of awareness of career technical education.

Lisa Martinez, the district’s director of technology enrollment and information and the lottery coordinator, explained the operational steps. The district ran four separate randomized public lotteries — one for each resident community — using a third-party electronic system to perform a randomized weighted draw. "To protect student confidentiality, no names will be displayed," Martinez said. "Instead, each applicant has been assigned a unique lottery ID number." Martinez said 1,157 students qualified for the drawings held today and that seat allocations were distributed by community using DESE enrollment data and the district agreement.

Martinez listed the community allocations used for this incoming class: Dracut 116 seats, Dunstable 15 seats, Lowell 421 seats and Kingsborough 43 seats. She said any unfilled seats would be redistributed to other district communities.

The district described the two-step process for each community: the system first performs a run-lottery function (about 30 seconds) to prepare the drawing, then the presentation feature displays the selected lottery ID numbers rapidly. Because results are displayed quickly, Martinez said the district will not announce official acceptances or wait-list positions during the live event. Instead, within two business days applicants will receive email notifications and a mailed letter indicating whether they were offered admission or placed on the wait list; results will also be posted on the district website organized by community and showing lottery ID numbers in order drawn.

Accepted students will receive an email with a link to the Finalsite online application portal and must complete registration within 10 calendar days to secure a seat; Martinez said offers not accepted within 10 days will be rescinded and the seat offered to the next wait-listed applicant. Martinez also noted that acceptance is conditional on the student’s promotion to Grade 9 by their sending district and on the accuracy and completeness of application materials; the district reserves the right to revoke acceptance if information is inaccurate or incomplete.

The district also said nonresident applicants and late applications submitted after the Feb. 2 deadline were not part of the initial lottery and that a separate Grade 10 transfer lottery will be held later in the summer with at least seven days’ advance notice.

Attorney Jennifer McGrew and Assistant Superintendent/Principal Michael Barton served on the certification team for the drawing; Paul Morin, school committee chairman, also participated as a certification team member. Superintendent Davis closed the session by thanking applicants and families and reiterating the district’s commitment to conducting the process "fairly, transparently, and in full compliance with state regulations."