School Lotteries Common In California

If you’re the parent of a student in the Santa Barbara area, you know that California has more than just one lottery. One deals in money, and the other, in education.

“Their names were put in a bowl,” said Frann Wageneck, assistant superintendent of Student Services in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Wageneck has what is arguably one of the toughest jobs in the district.

“We pulled the names out, we announced the names, the names were put on the roster and we moved through,” said Wageneck.

Wageneck is referring to the district’s latest school lottery for transfer students that took place just weeks ago. For the first time ever, that lottery was for La Colina Jr. High School.

“If there’s a twin, that takes up two spaces,” said Debra Vance, the mother of two and Santa Barbara resident.

Vance’s daughter was in the lottery that night.

“The parents starts looking at one another like, ‘Oh, she got in’ and ‘You know, we put in our transfer application first.’ It’s tough,” said Vance.

And this wasn’t the first or second time the Vance family found itself in a school lottery.

“We’ve actually been through the lottery five times,” said Vance.

And they’re not alone.

Each year, dozens of families endure the white knuckle, nail biting selection process that’s in place, in part, because of No Child Left Behind. If a family’s home school falls under “program improvement” — not meeting state and federal standards — they have the right to transfer to a school that does. That’s every junior high school in Santa Barbara, except for popular La Colina, with a cap of 950 students.

And this happens at the other grades, too.

Since 2009, Roosevelt Elementary School has held a lottery; Washington Elementary School since 2010. Monroe and Adams Elementary Schools and Dos Pueblos High School all held lotteries in 2013. The district says next year, La Colina will likely hold its second lottery.

Problems arise when there isn’t enough space for all the applicants. That’s when the lottery kicks in.

“It literally is the luck of the draw,” said Vance.

Students whose parents work at the school have priority. Next, siblings of a student already enrolled. Then, students of parents working in the district. Top priority goes to a specific group of children in the community.

“Low income students from low incomes families have a right to placement above all others,” said Wageneck.

If you thought the name-in-the-bowl selection process was tough, verifying that priority list is downright harsh.

“So, does that fall on you?” I ask. “Yes,” said Wageneck.

“Are you going door to door?” I ask. “I have gone to doors and knocked on doors to verify that students are living where they say they’re living. Because that’s the law,” said Wageneck.

Wageneck admitted she’s even demanded proof to see a child’s bedroom and their clothes. And yes, some parents lie when they actually live in a different community or county.

“I can’t look down on a parent who makes that choice because it’s such a hard position to be in,” said Vance.

In the end, one group of transfers came out winners, and none of their names were pulled in La Colina’s lottery.

“They’re pioneers,” said Jo Ann Caines, principal of La Cumbre Jr. High School.

La Cumbre Jr. High may get as many as 30 new students; some pulled their names from the lottery, others weren’t chosen.

“We’re such a hidden secret, but a hidden secret no more,” said Caines.

The big draw at La Cumbre, once slated for closure, is its rigorous advanced placement program known as Core Knowledge. It will double in size because of these new students.

“It was a texting frenzy,” said Carl Bryant, father of a graduating sixth grader at Washington Elementary.

“Once we got our group together, we pulled our names from La Colina and thought, ‘This is where we want to go,'” said Bryant.

“There’s probably about 25 close friends, people that they’ve grown up together, known each other since preschool. Pretty exciting,” said Jennifer Thatcher.

La Cumbre’s student population is fewer than 500. Recruiting a large number of high-achieving students from the community has been a challenge for years, until now.

“It’s ironic that we can go to other people’s countries and we don’t have a problem being a minority there,” said Jennifer Cora, whose son, also at Washington Elementary, is heading to La Cumbre in the fall. “So, why is this in our backyard and we’re not utilizing it?”

In the end, locals can expect another round of lotteries. The one for Washington’s GATE (gifted and talented education) program is coming up soon.

“People felt like maybe it’s personal, but it’s not,” said Wageneck. “It’s just about fairness and equity,”

“It’s personal if it’s your kid,” NewsChannel 3 suggested.

“Absolutely,” said Wageneck.