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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Drawings for Chilton County Schools Alabama First Class Pre-K classes for next school year will be conducted on March 20 as planned.

According to information released by the schools, the drawing has been closed to the public, but parents/guardians will be notified via email if their child’s name has been drawn.

During the Chilton County Board of Education voting session, Superintendent Jason Griffin announced that the school system has received additional funding from the Alabama Department of Early Childhood to fund its existing classrooms.

Ashlie Harrison, CCS Department of Teaching and Learning director, said classrooms still needing additional funds will use federal funding.

No local revenue will be needed to fund the classrooms.

“Lots of stakeholders, including myself and Ms. Harrison and other folks have worked diligently to make that happen,” Griffin said.

Clanton Elementary, Jemison Elementary and each of the K-12 schools offer preschool.

The possibility of needing more funding to continue the current number of First Class Pre-K classrooms the school system had been discussed at the school board’s January meeting.

Each classroom is initially funded through a grant from the state. State funding for preschool classrooms pays a set amount for a basic teacher and aide, but some of the CCS preschool teachers have more experience putting them in a higher pay grade than what the state fully funds.

Preschool applications are accepted before a drawing to determine which students will be in the program.

The state’s First Class Pre-K program is open to 4 year olds.