The D.C. school lottery system is evolving to enhance equity, particularly for at-risk students. The new Equitable Access Designated Seats Program will reserve specific seats for such students in nine public schools, including those who are homeless or in foster care, beyond the typical lottery application deadlines. This initiative aims to improve enrollment accessibility and is part of broader efforts to promote fairness in a gentrifying city. DCPS Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee emphasized the importance of ensuring access for the youngest learners as they move forward with this program.
"We thought this would be a good step in our commitment to our youngest learners and ensuring that access," DCPS Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee said in an interview.
The change, announced in a news release last week, will allocate a specific number of seats at each school campus for students who are homeless, are in foster care or use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
The D.C. school lottery system remains a work in progress. It eliminated preferences for the children of government officials in 2017. Last year, aiming to enhance equity in a gentrifying city, it allowed charter schools to give a preference to "at-risk" students.
The lottery program was introduced in 2014 to consolidate the process for parents. Previously, families often had to keep track of roughly 30 different deadlines, because the charter schools and D.C. public schools often had different timelines.
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