What is a school lottery and how does it work?
Editor’s Note: CityMoms have been buzzing lately with Indianapolis Public School lottery talk: who matched, who didn't. If you're wondering what this is all about, read on to find out how IPS runs their lottery. In a different district? Check with yours to see how families can look for and select a choice school.
There’s a good chance that even if you’re a first-time mom, you’re familiar with school districts and their purpose. But, what about a school lottery?
When schools have more children than they do seats, a lottery system can be used as a sorting process to ensure that no biases or privileges interfere with determining who can attend. While common with charter schools nationwide, there are areas of Indianapolis in which a lottery has been implemented in addition to regular districting.
The lottery can also be used by parents who want to explore educational opportunities outside of the school assigned to their district (i.e. the school your child attends is tied to their residential address). Factors such as instruction styles, location, hours, and extracurricular activities are just a few reasons families might consider a school outside of their district.
Want to learn more about Indianapolis’ lottery process? Start here.
Here’s a step-by-step of how a school lottery process works for grades K-8*:
First, parents can select the schools they think are best suited for their family's needs (i.e. choice schools).
Then, parents will submit their child for consideration at those schools during selection rounds (we have two in Indianapolis).
Lottery rounds are then completed by the school district.
If there has been a match (i.e. the child has been “matched” with a school), parents are notified and can proceed with the matched school, remain in their district, or choose to enroll in the next round of matching.
If there hasn’t been a match (which is possible!) you have the option to apply again during or attend your district-assigned school.
* In IPS, attending High School is a lottery process for EVERYONE - there are no district or neighborhood schools. 8th graders attend a fair to learn about options at each school and then rank their picks.
The regulations that decide if a student will or will not attend one of their chosen schools in the lottery are set by the city. It’s important to know that lottery priorities do exist and occur. For example, children who have siblings in or caregivers who work for a choice school will receive consideration over those who do not. Though every education administration has different rules, in Indianapolis parents are able to see if a school offers priorities during the comparison process.
Comparing schools may seem daunting, but Enroll Indy has a School Finder tool to help!
