The Palm Beach County School District’s Department of Choice & Career Options will use a new student application and lottery management system designed to provide parents with a convenient way to submit, review and manage their child’s choice program selections.
This new lottery system will allow parents to have more options, including extended deadlines, the ability to change their selections, and the power to submit, review and manage their applications from their home computers.
Department director Peter Licata said this new lottery system offers a platform for parents to “go mobile” with an app designed specifically for the Palm Beach County School District. The app will provide parents with the option to manage their child’s accounts with their smart phones or tablet devices. The mobile app can be used with most smart phones and tablet devices that have an Internet connection.
Families who may not have Internet access or a computer at home will have the opportunity to submit and manage applications online from any computer, including schools and libraries, at any time. Parents will still be able to send in hard copies that will be entered into the system manually. The department is finalizing a community outreach plan that will provide assistance to families.
Parents will also receive e-mail notifications on acceptance letters and confirmations about placements on the same day as all the applicants, avoiding a staggered notification process.
“Utilizing this program will save hundreds of hours in labor costs while also saving in postage,” Licata said. “As our choice programs and career academies are nationally recognized, we will now have an innovative lottery system that meets the needs of our stakeholders.”
The Palm Beach County School District is the 11th largest in the nation and the fifth largest in Florida. The Department of Choice Programs is currently in the process of making the transition to the new lottery system. More information about the new system and mobile app will be available online at www.palmbeachschools.org/choiceprograms.
For more information, contact Licata at (561) 434-8755 or peter.licata@palmbeachschools.org.
