North Merrick UFSD holds UPK lottery; 114 placements guaranteed pending state budget

Cynthia Siniak, superintendent of schools for the North Merrick Union Free School District, opened the public lottery and told parents the district had secured funding tied to 114 guaranteed universal prekindergarten (UPK) placements while awaiting further action at the state level. "We will communicate further information once the state budget is approved," Siniak said, noting the governor has proposed additional funding for all families seeking UPK but the legislature must approve the plan before any expansion beyond 114 seats can be confirmed.

Joanne Long, the district clerk, conducted the drawing and read assigned lottery numbers and family names aloud for registrants. "Good luck to all the families, and we're gonna start the draw now," Long said before beginning. Long read numbers in order and said that numbers 1–114 would receive placements and numbers 115–138 would be placed on a wait list; the district told families they would receive their assigned number via email and that placements for numbers 1–114 would be distributed the week of March 23.

The clerk called each registration in turn; at several points she paused to verify spellings and confirmed multiple pairs of twins among registrants. After the clerk read through the stated wait list range, an additional name was announced as number 139 on the record, a discrepancy from the district's earlier statement that total registrants numbered 138. The district did not make an on-record clarification during the session about that discrepancy.

Next steps: the district will email each family their assigned lottery number and, assuming the state budget does not alter the guaranteed seats, distribute placements for lottery numbers 1–114 during the week of March 23. The district said it will provide further updates after the legislature acts on the governor's budget proposal.