A Pre-Kindergarten lottery is held for each school zone where there are more registered students than available class slots. A lottery is defined as a process or outcome which is governed by chance; therefore, parents do not choose which Pre-K site their child will attend in that zone. For school zones where there is more than one Pre-K site (i.e. an elementary site and a high school site), one lottery will be used to place children in that zone’s available slots.
To be considered for the Pre-Kindergarten lottery drawing for the 2024-2025 school year, the registration process and any out-of-zone forms (if necessary) must be completed online by 4 p.m., on Friday, March 15, 2024. Lottery drawings will be held on Thursday, March 28, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
After each lottery, the school district will contact the parents of each student chosen during the lottery, so that the registering parent can formally accept the enrollment. This must be done to officially enroll the child.
Why are Lottery Drawings & Waiting Lists Necessary
The Georgia Department of Early Learning (also known as Bright from the Start) administers Georgia Pre-K and Bulloch County Schools hosts Pre-K sites on each of its elementary and high school campuses. Unlike grades K-12 for which we accommodate each child in Bulloch County who registers for school, Pre-Kindergarten is an optional program and the Georgia Department of Early Learning decides and approves how many sites our school system can host. This does limit the number of children we can register, but we do provide lists of other Pre-K sites in the community and a waiting list for our sites.
Bulloch County Schools has 11 pre-k sites with a total of 20 classrooms. For the 2024-2025 school year, the number of available spaces per Pre-K class will be reduced from 22 to 20, so the total number of available seats will be reduced from 446 to 400. For this reason, demand may exceed space, so it is important to register during the announced Pre-Kindergarten Registration period. Even if you feel a Pre-K site will fill up, please complete a registration packet, and if necessary, ask to be placed on the waiting list or ask about other sites in and out of your school zone. Waiting lists help us show demand for the program and could lead to additional sites being granted to the school system.
May a child remain on an out-of-zone waiting list after they have accepted a spot at his or her attendance-zoned school?
Yes, the child may remain on the out-of-zone list prior to the first day of faculty pre-planning. After pre-planning begins, to keep your child on an out-of-zone wait list, you will need to first decline the in-zone pre-kindergarten spot.
What if I register after the Pre-K lottery drawing?
Children who are registered after the Pre-K Lottery drawing will be automatically placed at the bottom of the waiting list for their zoned school and alternate school if indicated.
Pre-Kindergarten Waiting Lists
A Pre-K waiting list is defined as a list of children, who are awaiting possible placement in a Pre-K site. Each zone has one waiting list. For school zones where there is more than one Pre-K site (i.e. an elementary site and a high school site), the two sites share a single waiting list.
Children are placed on a waiting list if they did not receive placement at a Pre-K site in their zone due to full enrollment. Children may also be placed on a waiting list for a Pre-K site that is not in their zone.
If a child receives placement in a Pre-K site, the parent can either accept or deny the placement. In an instance where there are two Pre-K sites in a zone (an elementary and a high school site) and a family participated in a Pre-K Lottery, the child received placement at a Pre-K site, and the parent denied placement at that site, the child will not be placed on a waiting list at the other Pre-K site within that same zone because the sites share a single waiting list.
Points to Remember
- High school sites are paired with an elementary school in that zone.
- We ensure that all of our Pre-K classes have a guaranteed and viable curriculum. Our students have an equal opportunity to be immersed in a positive learning environment and have educational experiences which focus on the Pre-K developmental standards.
- We understand the importance of providing students with an early start with their educational experiences as well as providing a smooth transition to kindergarten in their zone school.
- As vacancies occur within a Pre-K classroom, applicants will be notified from the waiting list which will be in the order of the names drawn in the lottery.
- Applicants who registered after the registration window are placed on the waiting list in the order that the packet was received.