Vocational schools will now use a lottery system for admissions across Massachusetts, following a state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education vote altering the long-controversial admissions process Tuesday.

“DESE is committed to all students having equitable access to career technical education, and the proposed regulatory changes are designed to advance that goal,” said Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler. “We want a future where every student has a chance to discover their strengths, follow their interests and build a meaningful path forward. I believe that what is proposed moves us in that direction.”

The proposed changes, which passed 8 to 2 with Tutwiler abstaining, would mandate that vocational schools with more applicants than seats use a lottery system to admit students, rather than the application process currently in use at many schools.

The proposal also formally changes the name “vocational technical” schools to “career technical education” or CTE schools and expands access to CTE schools from various middle schools.

Under the changes, the schools may use a weighted lottery system if they choose.

“That lottery may include student awareness as a required part of a completed application,” said Tutwiler. “Student interest, attendance and discipline may be used as additional weights in the lottery. Schools still maintain local control to determine which combination of the criteria to use, including opting to use none of the criteria and running a non-weighted lottery.”

The use of attendance and discipline weighting were slightly altered after the public comment period, with schools unable to consider under 10 days of suspension or data in either category from before seventh grade in the weighting system.

The debate over CTE school admissions has long stirred controversy, with over 2,000 people participating in the public comment period from March 10 through April 18.

Proponent of changing exam school admissions have long argued the schools’ rigorous application processes decrease access for historically marginalized student groups.

“The good news is that this is a big step forward that all students are potentially eligible for a lottery for vocational school seats,” said Lewis Finfer, representing the Vocational Education Justice Coalition. “The former discriminatory policy ranked students by Grades, Attendance, Discipline, Guidance Counselor recommendations, and Interview, and these will no longer be used for vocational admissions.”

Finfer, along with multiple Board members who voted for the policy change, expressed disappointment that DESE did not go with a fully blind lottery system.

Others pushed back on the change, arguing the lottery system hurts the schools’ standards and students who work to be admitted.

“Today’s vote by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to implement a lottery-based admissions system for Massachusetts vocational technical schools is a disappointing outcome that will unnecessarily water down admissions standards, limit voc-tech access for students and undermine the pipeline of skilled workers across the state,” wrote Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Timothy Murray. … “Unfortunately, Massachusetts continues to retreat from having high expectations and standards for our students.”

The Legislature is also slated to consider a House bill, H. 4510 filed by Rep. Frank Moran, that would pause the implementation of the admission changes.

Board members also noted the importance of growing CTE schools’ capacity. The Healey Driscoll administration has filed funding within a supplemental budget that would add 3,000 new CTE seats over three years.

“Implementing a lottery won’t create more seats, it simply changes who gets them,” said student member of the board Ioannis Asikis. “The underlying problem is limited capacity, and the real solution lies within the Legislature, as other members have mentioned, through increased funding to expand access and meet the growing demand.”