Explanation
BACKGROUND: This legislation authorizes the Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Education to modify a grant agreement authorized by ordinances 1390-2021 and 1180-2022, with the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio (WDBCO), to extend the contract to December 31, 2025, and to allow them to use funds to outfit a mobile service unit for postsecondary and career outreach in the Columbus community.
For 33 years, I Know I Can (IKIC), a not-for-profit organization, has been the anchor organization for college access in Columbus, with recent expansion into additional Franklin County districts. IKIC achieves its mission, “to inspire, enable, and support Columbus students to pursue and complete a college education,” by focusing service efforts around three critical junctures for students: early awareness of college and career opportunities, postsecondary access, as well as summer melt prevention and postsecondary persistence. WDBCO will contract with I Know I Can to administer this initiative.
Due to COVID-19, in the 2020-2021 school year, many Columbus City Schools (CCS) students had not acquired enough credits to graduate high school or matriculate to the next grade level. Ordinance 1390-2021 provided crucial funding for Summer JAM: a collaborative initiative to assist students with acquiring high school credits and provided them summer employment and other programming.
Of the $5,855,232.80 encumbered by ordinance 1390-2021, WDBCO invoiced the City for, and received $3,000,000.00. Of this, only $1,348,791.00 was spent. WDBCO retained a balance of $1,651,209.00, $500,000.00 was re-appropriated by the City and $2,355,232.00 remains encumbered at the City.
Original Grant/encumbered $5,855,232.00
Amount allocated $3,000,000.00
Amount spent $1,348,791.00
WDBCO balance $1,651,209.00
Re-appropriated $500,000.00
Encumbered balance $2,355,232.00
Because of this, Ordinance 1180-2022 authorized the Executive Di...
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