San Francisco school board restores merit-based admissions at elite prep school after recall

The San Francisco school board members who replaced the three ousted in a February recall all voted on Wednesday to revert admissions at Lowell High School, an elite public school, from a lottery back to a merit-based assessment of grades and test scores.

San Francisco Unified Board of Education President Jenny Lam joined new commissioners Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi and Lisa Weissman-Ward, who were appointed by Mayor London Breed in March, in the 4-3 decision.

“I believe in an academic magnet school,” Lam, who cast the swing vote, told The San Francisco Standard.

“I support, at this time, criteria-based admissions. Lowell as a school is not perfect on its own, and neither is its admissions process. I’m fully committed in ensuring we move forward as a district.”

Board Vice President Kevine Boggess, who voted to extend the lottery, told the San Francisco Chronicle he wanted to depoliticize the issue while the community had a conversation to address why the district has a school “that is considered superior to others.”

Three school board members were recalled by an overwhelming majority of voters in February for prioritizing progressive and racial-justice pet projects, like renaming schools, over reopening schools for in-person instruction.

David Lee, a political science lecturer at San Francisco State University, said the decision was an acknowledgement of the political forces behind the recall, especially Asian Americans angry at how the board switched Lowell admissions to a lottery in 2020.

“It speaks to the urgency that this new majority on the board felt to distance itself from the previous board,” said Lee.

“I think they wanted to show to voters that they heard loud and clear in the February vote.”

All three new commissioners are up for re-election in the fall.

About 48% of Lowell’s students are Asian, compared to 35% across San Francisco Unified.

The school saw a record number of failing grades in the first class admitted via lottery over the old merit-based system. 24.4% of Lowell’s fall 2021 class received at least one D or F in their first semester, almost triple the number of the first-year students from the two years prior.