San Francisco's Lowell High School admissions debate isn't over

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Unified School District Supt. Matt Wayne will soon ask the school board to change how students are admitted to one of the city's top schools.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Wayne will ask the district's board of directors to change how students are accepted into Lowell High School. 

But that process won't be easy and he isn't looking to make changes anytime soon.

Wayne is proposing to base Lowell’s admission on a minimum grade point average. It would eliminate the current system, which relies on a qualifying test, special application and essay, and reserves spots for students from underrepresented middle schools.

If there are more interested and qualified students than openings,  then the same tie-breaker process used at other high schools would decide who gets in and who doesn’t, the Chronicle reports. 

That includes whether the student has a sibling at the school or lives in a neighborhood where standardized test scores are low.

The topic of admissions at Lowell continues to be a conversation for SFUSD.

Board members switched the process to a lottery system during the pandemic.

That led to public outroar, even becoming a reason to recall three school board members last year. 

The superintendent told the Chronicle he likes this new idea because he hopes it will get more students to qualify for the school and create a more diverse student body.

But he wants to give it time for discussion and a vote.

His ideas will be submitted to the district board members who will discuss it at their next meeting in about two weeks.

But changes wouldn't happen for at least another two years.