'What Do I Do?' Families Unhappy With Philadelphia School District's Lottery Process Ahead Of Deadline
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Time is dwindling down, with just one more day until students in the Philadelphia School District lottery must accept one of their waitlist offers. If not, that spot will go to another student.
The lottery is part of the district's new admission policy for specialty schools, and a lot of families are unhappy with the process.
Families told CBS3 they are in favor of the plan to diversify these specialty schools, but they said the district is overlooking the hard work that got them into the lottery in the first place.
"Where are these demographics, and what are these zip codes they are prioritizing?" One parent wondered during a discussion on the lottery.
At the start of February, the Philadelphia School District delivered the news to thousands of families whether or not their child was placed at some of the most elite schools in the district.
It's an initiative officials says they are hoping will provide more diversity at these specialty schools, giving priority placement to students who live in economically-challenged neighborhoods.
"It's bittersweet he did get placed," Tanya Folk said.
Tanya Folk held back tears instead of breathing a sigh of relief after her son Christopher was placed in his first choice, Carver High School of Engineering and Science.
"I got passing grades to get in but I know my friends also had passing grades but they didn't get in," Christopher said, adding that six of his friends didn't make the cut.
'They weren't placed because of a lottery," Folk said.
CBS3 asked the district if they met their equity goals, and they said those numbers are not yet available. However, at an earlier school district meeting, Superintendent Dr. William Hite said 62% of students who qualify for these specialty schools are Black and Latino. That's a 40% increase from last year.
That ultimately qualified more than 3,500 minority students, but Skye questions why she didn't make the cut.
"I thought I was going to get in immediately, but I didn't," she said.
"Many children were put on a waitlist with a number that doesn't even seem possible to enter the school," Sherice Sargent, Skye's mother, said.
Sargent has been at the forefront hosting protests and parent forums, so much families are writing in. Here's part of a mother's plead, saying Skye has received all as her entire school career, consistency scored in the 99 percentile and received a 25.2 on the admissions essay exam. She applied to four schools and was waitlisted at all of them.
Like thousands of families, Sherice must also weigh her options.
"Do I look at the district, do I move out the city, do I go to a charter school? What do I do?"
Families also said this is not the right time to change the selection process, mostly because we are in a pandemic. They also cited the city's rising crime rate. However, the district basically said there will never be a right time.
