Sierra Sands Unified School District on Monday unveiled a district-wide “Homework Lottery” that will randomly select a subset of submitted assignments for anonymous grading and apply those grades to on a random basis, controlled by ChatGPT. The pilot, to begin at the beginning of the next school year at Burroughs High and the Vieweg STEM Academy, will use a randomized algorithm to choose 20 percent of Canvas submissions for detailed evaluation.
District leaders say the program is intended to address grading bias and reduce teacher
workload.
“This is not about chance replacing rigor,” Principal April Fuuls said in a prepared statement, insisting the lottery is “a statistics-based initiative that preserves high standards while mitigating subjective bias in grading.” Fuuls said the school board approved the pilot after reviewing studies suggesting randomized assessments can reduce grading burnout, and can sometimes raise class averages significantly.
Student reaction split between bewilderment and strategic calculation. “I’ve already weighed my chances — you either get graded and look amazing on your applications, or you don’t and hope the class average carries you,” said Christian Gilbert, a senior, who believes the program has a “good chance” of being an amenable solution for his senioritis.
Teachers expressed both relief and unease about the change. “Grading is a big time sink; if this reduces our admin load, it could free time for instruction,” said Shirley Eukid, a veteran government teacher, while acknowledging “it feels odd to let chance determine whose work influences a grade.” Eukid said teachers will calibrate rubrics scrupulously and definitely not use their extra free time to get Dutch Bros together.
The new policy is part of a wave of experimental grading policies that has swept U.S. school districts. Drawing off the success of Los Angeles Unified’s “Traffic-Adjusted GPA” (awarding more lenient scores on days where the smog is too thick to see out the window) and Seattle Public Schools’ “Rain-Indexed Attendance Credit” (awarding extra points to those who still make it out of bed on soggy mornings), SSUSD administrators are hopeful the policy will raise Burroughs’ competitive reputation in the 2027-2028 school year.
