Schools begin drawings for lottery-funded pre-K

Tina Adams yelped with glee after hearing her name called as the last chosen for Bel Air Elementary School's pre-K lottery.

"I'm so ecstatic," the Martinez resident said afterward. "My daughter is in first grade here already and now my son can start here in the fall, which is about the same time I'll be having another baby."

Columbia County's lottery funded pre-K sign-up kicked off at Bel Air Elementary on Thursday morning.

Principal Mark Boyd pulled the names of 20 parents from a box. The names designated which children were chosen to participate in the free pre-K program at the school.

Westmont Elementary held their lottery Thursday afternoon. Brookwood and South Columbia elementary schools conducted pre-K lotteries on Friday.

Sharon Buser's name was picked for the school's Pre-K waiting list. But at least three parents entered into Bel Air's lottery were in the wrong zone, moving Buser's grandson, Chandler, off the waiting list and into the program.

Although many area day-care facilities offer lottery-funded Pre-K programs, Buser said she prefers a school program.

"There's more structure in a school, and I think my grandchild will get more out of it," she said. "There can be a lot of disorganization in the day-care environment."

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