What MA Education Board Vote May Do To Change North Shore CTE School Admissions

SALEM, MA — The Massachusetts Board of Education on Tuesday voted to support a "weighted lottery" admission system for career technical high schools designed to create a compromise among the schools that embraced the current interview selection process and those who say that process is selective and inherently discriminatory, after months of contentious debate.

The 8-2-1 vote would shift admissions from the current process used by many schools with more applications than seats amid soaring demand to one that proponents argue is more fair to all students and will create student bodies that better represent all the districts from which they draw.

Under the weighted system, students would be chosen by lottery, but factors such as good attendance, no significant disciplinary history, and interest in pursuing vocational careers would enhance the student's odds of being chosen for a seat.

Essex Tech Superintendent Heidi Riccio told Patch earlier this week that she opposed the change because "our admissions process is designed to get to know each student and determine who is truly ready to thrive in a career technical and agricultural education environment."

"A lottery removed that human connection — and misses the point entirely."

• Essex Tech Superintendent Rejects MA 'Lottery' Admissions Proposal
• Danvers Delays Vote On Capping Share Of Essex Tech Enrollment

But Salem Public Schools Superintendent Steve Zrike told Patch in an interview prior to the vote on Tuesday that the interview process essentially makes the public CTE schools "select enrollment schools" and that data shows that the demographics of students in Salem who attend Essex North Shore do not match the demographics in the larger school population.

"That's concerning," he said. "Public School districts, and traditional high schools like ours, have to establish systems that support all students who come here. It's our responsibility to serve everybody who comes to our school, and I think that's the responsibility of anybody, including vocational schools.

"They have plenty of resources to do that."

Zrike told Patch after the vote on Tuesday that the weighted lottery "is a step in the right direction and I applaud the Board for taking this initial step."

Supporters of criteria that include attendance and disciplinary requirements being considered when admitting students said that the unique aspect of the schools — where students have access to heavy duty and sometimes dangerous machinery and materials at a relatively young age, and where attendance is mandatory to allow for the skill development of themselves and their classmates — makes attendance and disciplinary history critical components of determining whether they will be successful in the environment and will contribute to a safe environment for their classmates and teachers.

As part of the weighted lottery, only discipline and attendance issues in seventh grade or later can be considered as part of the added chance of being selected.

The compromised also faced opposition from those who said even the weighted lottery system is discriminatory because it penalizes student groups that are more likely to have had attendance or discipline issues, or do not have the means to attend information nights or engage in other efforts to meet the "interest" quota for increased odds of being accepted.

The Board of Education decision is also pending state legislation that Board member Katherine Craven said could delay the implementation of a lottery while a study on its impacts is conducted.

Many agreed at the meeting that adding more CTE seats to meet demand should be a priority. Board of Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said the Gov. Maura Healey Administration is committed to adding 3,000 more seats over the next three years, while other Board members said it will take nearly three times that to meet demand.

Riccio told Patch on Monday that her school received 1,127 applications for the incoming freshman class from its 17 member communities, with 497 students admitted and 536 placed on a waitlist. She said none of the applicants lost points due to disciplinary infractions, challenging narratives that vocational schools exclude students based on behavior.

"At its core, this debate shouldn’t be about how we choose among students — it should be about why we don't have more seats to meet the demand," Riccio said. "We would gladly welcome more students if we had the funding and infrastructure to support them.

"Strategic growth — not random selection — is how we ensure every student is set up for success."

Zrike said public schools with CTE programs, such as Salem and Peabody, are looking to add to them as part of plans to build new high schools, but that in the meantime, the interview process "is an issue of equity that needs to be addressed."

"That, for me, is a fundamental issue," Zrike said. "Every student should have the same opportunity to access those programs regardless."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)