South Colonie Central School District held a lottery to allocate Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) seats from 225 registered applicants, officials said, and families whose numbers were drawn must confirm enrollment by 4 p.m. on June 2.

Willie Mortman, supervisor of special programs for the district, said the drawing assigns a single lottery number to each registration and that parents of students selected will be contacted by email within 24 hours. "All parents of students selected will be contacted by email within 24 hours of the drawing, and confirmation of acceptance will be required by parents by 4PM on June 2," Mortman said.

Mortman told attendees that the district registered 225 students for the lottery and gave seat counts for program options. "This year, we have a 62 seats, which means we have 90 for the 5 hour program, 72 seats for our half day programs," Mortman said. He also noted the lottery included four sets of twins and explained how the district treats twin registrations: "each twin, if you will, they are 1 number. Each set of twin is 1 number." The transcript contains an internal inconsistency in the phrasing of total available seats; the district statement as quoted above is presented without correction.

A parent information night for families with selected students is scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, at 6 p.m. in the high school auditorium, Mortman said. District staff will present an overview of UPK program options at that meeting. Student screenings are set for June 5 and June 6 at Saddlewood Elementary for families in the Dieter, Saddlewood and part of Forest Park home-school areas; screenings for Rosellville, Shaker Road and the other half of Forest Park will be held at Rosellville on a June date announced by the district.

At screenings the district will have UPK teachers, VESL teachers, a speech provider, CSE/CPSE chair, nurses and UPK support staff to assist with the screening process, Mortman said. He said the district will post the drawn lottery numbers on its website and expected to publish results "within the hour" after the live drawing.

Deneen Bobanowicz, identified as the district registrar, was present during the drawing and available to assist with registration questions, Mortman said. The lottery concluded after staff confirmed selected numbers and twin assignments. Families who need further information were directed to contact the district office or consult the district website for frequently asked questions and posted results.