The Revere School Committee voted last week to begin phasing out the city’s middle school lottery system, setting in motion a shift in how students will be assigned to Rumney Marsh Academy, Garfield Middle School, and Susan B. Anthony Middle School.
The decision followed a community forum attended by more than 100 families, students, educators, and city officials, and a districtwide parent survey that drew nearly 500 responses. Under the approved plan, the lottery will be eliminated gradually, beginning with incoming sixth graders. Current seventh and eighth-graders will remain in their existing placements, ensuring a phased transition rather than an immediate overhaul.
Vice Chair Monterroso introduced the motion and described the intense work the entire committee had done before making this decision. “We’ve spent over a year—really closer to two years—talking about the lottery, thinking about finances, our community, our students, and our schools. This is an informed decision, one made with feedback from students, parents, and educators.”
Further discussion about the precise neighborhood model and implementation details will continue in future meetings.
Mayor Patrick Keefe shared that the neighborhood middle school assignments will begin with sixth grade for the 2026-2027 school year and then proceed from there through 7th and 8th grades in subsequent school years
Overall, approximately 74 percent of respondents said they preferred a neighborhood-based middle school assignment system. Seventeen percent supported keeping the lottery, and about 9 percent expressed no preference.
Nearly 200 written comments accompanied the survey responses. According to Kelly, the most echoed themes in the survey were a desire for predictability, less stress, reduced transportation time, and the ability for children to attend school closer to home.
“One parent talked about the stability and not having to feel the anxiety of wondering where your child will go,” Kelly said. “That predictability creates a sense of calm for families.”
At the same time, at least some families praised the lottery for providing options that better fit individual student needs.
Revere’s lottery system was introduced in 2010 after new middle school buildings opened. At the time, enrollment demand was heavily skewed toward Rumney Marsh and Susan B. Anthony, leaving Garfield significantly under-enrolled.
Without a balancing mechanism, district leaders said, one school would swell to nearly 700 students while another might enroll fewer than 400—creating inequities in class size, staffing, and programming.
In addition to family concerns, rising transportation costs have played a central role in reopening the debate. Under the lottery, students may be bused across the city depending on placement outcomes, even when another middle school is geographically closer to home. Officials say a neighborhood-based system would significantly reduce busing needs.
At the January community forum, more than 100 families, staff members, and students gathered with Superintendent Dr. Dianne Kelly, Mayor Keefe, School Committee members, and city planning officials to review potential neighborhood models.
City Planner Tom Skwierawski, working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, presented three possible attendance-zone scenarios. The maps were drawn using natural and man-made boundaries—including major roadways such as Route 1A, Route 16, and Route 60—while also analyzing demographic balance across income levels, race, multilingual learner status, and special education needs.
Under all three proposed neighborhood scenarios, the number of students living more than two miles from their assigned school would drop dramatically—from more than 400 under the lottery model to fewer than 100. The number of students living within one mile of their school would more than double.
Kelly stressed that specialized programs would remain intact regardless of assignment structure. Students with Individualized Education Programs requiring specific services—such as the ASCEND program housed at Garfield—would continue to be placed accordingly.
“We promise that regardless of the model, all students will have what they need,” Kelly said at the forum. “There’s no perfect solution. The challenge is figuring out how best to get there.”
During Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, members also discussed how sibling placement and non-neighborhood requests would work under the new system.
Kelly explained that once neighborhood schools are implemented, there would no longer be automatic sibling preference as part of a lottery. Instead, families could request a non-neighborhood assignment, similar to the process currently used at the elementary level.
“We would honor non-neighborhood requests as long as it’s a lower enrollment and the student is in excellent standing,” Kelly said, noting that attendance issues can factor into decisions if travel across town creates chronic lateness or absences.
The committee’s vote formally begins the transition away from the lottery, with incoming sixth graders next fall expected to attend their designated neighborhood middle schools.
Current sixth graders will move up within their existing schools, and current seventh graders will advance to eighth grade without reassignment. District leaders said attempting to reassign hundreds of current middle schoolers midstream would be too disruptive.
Implementation details—including final boundary maps and communication to families—are expected to be shared later in the spring. The Superintendent and her staff will work closely with the school committee to ensure they can maximize equity, balance, and stability in the middle school assignment process.