Limited School Choice Lottery

Any Fort Mill School District family with a student currently enrolled in or entering kindergarten through 8th grade may apply. You may apply for more than one school, and you may include more than one student from your household on a single application (up to four students.) Student attendance and discipline records from the most recently completed school year will be reviewed. Students with excessive unexcused absences or major disciplinary offenses may be ineligible for the limited school choice lottery.

The following schools are participating in the Limited School Choice Lottery for the 2026-27 school year:

Elementary Schools (Grades K–5):

• Fort Mill Elementary School (FMES)
• Sugar Creek Elementary School (SCES)
• Springfield Elementary School (SFES)

Middle Schools (Grades 6–8):

• Banks Trail Middle School (BTMS)
•  Fort Mill Middle School (FMMS)
•  Springfield Middle School (SFMS)

Available Seats by School 

The number of lottery seats available at each school was determined by comparing current enrollment to our target class size ratios — 1:21 for grades K–2 and 1:23 for grades 3–8. A small number of seats at each grade were held in reserve for in-district transfers and late enrollments. The remaining seats are available through the lottery.

Elementary Schools

Middle Schools

Springfield Elementary School (SFES)

Sugar Creek Elementary School (SCES)

Fort Mill Elementary School (FMES)

Banks Trail Middle School (BTMS)

• June 3:
  • Limited School Choice Seats Updated & Published for Resident Families
  • Application Window Opens
• June 14:
  • Application Window Closes at 11:59 PM on June 14, 2026
  • No applications will be accepted after the deadline
• By June 19:
  • All applicants notified of lottery outcome (selected or not selected) in writing (emailed notification letter)
• By June 26:
  • Family acceptance agreements due 

Families are responsible for transportation.

The Fort Mill School District does not provide transportation to or from choice schools. If your child is selected through the lottery, your family will be responsible for arranging and providing transportation to and from the choice school, and no exceptions will be made. Please consider this carefully before applying.

Applications for the 26-27 school year are now closed. 

Applications are submitted through the online form below.

You will need to complete one application per household; you may include up to four students from the same household on a single application. Each student will be entered into the lottery individually for the schools you select for them.

Step-by-Step Application Guide

1.  Visit the application link provided below by the district. The link will be shared through the district website and official communications.

2.  Complete Section 1 — Parent/Guardian Information, including your name, contact information, and home address.

3.  Complete Section 2 — Student Information for your first student. You will be asked to provide your student's name, grade level for 2026-27, and the school or schools you are requesting.

4.  Answer the service and activity questions for your student. This information is collected for district planning purposes only and has no impact on lottery placement.

5.  If you have additional students to include, select 'Yes' when prompted and complete their information.

6.  Read and check both acknowledgment boxes at the end of the form before submitting.

7.  You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been submitted successfully. Please save this email as proof of submission.

The lottery is conducted in person by a designated district team with one independent witness present. The process is designed to be completely fair and transparent. Here is how it works:

 1.  After the registration window closes, all applications are finalized. One entry slip is prepared for each student per school they applied to.

2.  At the start of the drawing, the order in which schools will be drawn is determined by a separate random draw. School names are placed in a container and drawn one at a time. This ensures no school has an advantage over another.

3.  For each school, entry slips are placed in a container and drawn one at a time. Each slip has the same chance of being drawn.

4.  When a student's slip is drawn, the conductor checks whether a seat is available in that student's grade. If a seat is available, the student is assigned. If not, the student is not selected.

5.  If the drawn student is assigned, the conductor immediately checks whether any siblings from the same household are listed on the same application and also applied to that school. For each sibling listed, if a seat is available in the sibling's grade, the sibling is assigned as well. Sibling placement is subject to available capacity and is not guaranteed. If no seat is available in the sibling's grade at that moment, the sibling will not be placed at that school. Each student's individual odds in the drawing are not affected by whether they have a sibling in the lottery. 

6.  If a student applied to more than one school and is drawn at multiple schools, they are assigned to the school drawn first in the announced order. This is called the first-drawn rule.

7. After the first-drawn rule has been applied and all final outcomes are confirmed, district administration will conduct a proactive review to determine whether siblings from the same household who were each assigned to different choice schools can be placed together at the same school. 

8.  After all drawings are complete, families are notified of their outcome simultaneously.

All families will be notified of their lottery outcome at the same time, in writing, following the drawing. Your notification will clearly state:

• Whether your student was selected or not selected.
• If selected: the name of the school and next steps for enrollment, along with directions to confirm acceptance of the placement.
• If not selected: a clear statement that no placement was made.

Please note: Students must reside within the Fort Mill School District attendance zone to participate in the Limited School Choice Lottery. If your family moves outside of the district, your student(s) will no longer be eligible to attend an FMSD school, including a school attended through Limited School Choice.