News Update

More equitable admissions at San Francisco high school

All students in San Francisco Unified will have a chance next year at entering the long selective Lowell High School, under a new lottery system passed by the school board on Tuesday.

Lowell High offers opportunities such as AP classes and foreign languages that are not all available at other district high schools and is considered one of the best public high schools in the country. For years the district has only admitted students with high grade-point averages and test scores to Lowell High. But this year, the district doesn’t have grades from the spring, because after the coronavirus pandemic, it switched to a pass/fail system for the semester, and standardized tests were canceled statewide.

The change will only be in place for admissions for Fall 2021. The issue has sparked contentious debate in the city, with some saying the current system is elitist and racist while others say students with higher grades deserve a spot at the school.