NORHTAMPTON — Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School’s new lottery admissions system official opened for the 2026-2027 year on Nov. 1 and will accept applicants until Feb. 1, 2026.
In May 2025, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) voted to adopt regulations requiring the state’s 29 career technical education districts to use a lottery system to admit students when there are more applicants than available seats, as opposed to a merit-based process.
The change was prompted by civil rights complaint filed by the Center for Law and Education and Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston against DESE for discriminatory admissions practices. Data pulled from DESE shows that a lower percentage of students from low-income families, students of color, students with disabilities and English language learners were offered admittance than students from more privileged backgrounds.
Andrew Linkenhoker, Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School superintendent, said that the career technical education school will use a weighted lottery rather than a blind lottery. Students who submit an application and fulfill an “awareness requirement” by attending an open hour, tour or shadowing day get one ticket in the lottery.
Applicants can earn three additional tickets if they submit a letter of recommendation, have a high attendance record and have a clean disciplinary record.
Between February and April, the school will check to ensure applications are accurate and reach out to prospective families. The lottery, Linkenhoker said, will likely run sometime in April and give students a few weeks to accept admission. If an accepted student declines, the next student pulled in the lottery receives a spot.
For more information, Linkenhoker said to reach out to Admissions Counselor Lauren Devine to set up tours and go through the admissions process.