Randolph County Schools holds pre-K random drawing for 2025–26 school year

Jennifer Braden, curriculum and student services director for Randolph County Schools, led a livestreamed random drawing to assign pre-K lottery numbers for the 2025–26 school year on the record.

Braden told parents that the district will start classes with 16 students and can expand to 18, and that parents would be contacted by schools “within the next couple of weeks” with waitlist or placement information. “Just because your child does not get in the first 18 slots does not mean that they will not get in a pre k position or a classroom,” Braden said.

The drawing was conducted school-by-school. At each site a school principal or designated staff member drew names and Braden entered the assigned number on the livestreamed list. For the initial drawing Braden began with Whiteley (recorded in the transcript with variant spellings), where a principal identified as Dr. Ash handled the hat draw. Braden and staff repeated the process for Woodland Elementary, Winona Elementary, Sterling Hurley Elementary, Leadau (spelled variously on the record) and Rock Mills (junior/high) schools. The district read or confirmed preregistration totals on the record for several schools during the session.

District staff explained a sibling rule for twins: if one twin’s name is drawn, the sibling receives the next number so both siblings are placed together. Braden described how the process handles the twin drawn at a boundary number: “If the name of the twin is drawn, the sibling will automatically get the next spot. In case the twin gets drawn at number 18, then the twin will be drawn for the nineteenth spot.”

Staff repeatedly told parents that being outside the initial 16–18 spots does not close off chances for placement because enrollment shifts as families confirm or change locations; Braden said those shifts often move students into openings. She repeatedly offered parents the option to call the Randolph County Board of Education the next day to confirm a child’s assigned number if they missed the livestream.

The transcript shows the district ran separate drawings for multiple school sites and read long lists of assigned numbers and names on the record. Examples of preregistration counts announced on the record include 34 preregistered students at Whiteley/Wadley, 55 at Woodland Elementary and 56 at Sterling Hurley Elementary; Rock Mills was announced as having 45 preregistered students. The transcript contains variant spellings of some school names and student names; numbers and the twin-adjacency rule were the consistent procedural points.

No formal vote was recorded in the transcript; the session consisted of administering the lottery and issuing procedural guidance and follow-up steps. Parents were instructed they would be contacted by their school within days or could call the Board of Education office to confirm lottery numbers.

The drawing concluded with Braden reminding families that numbers may shift as enrollment changes and asking parents not to be discouraged if their child did not make the first 16–18 spots.