Explanation
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is that every child is ready for kindergarten. Kindergarten readiness is a multidimensional construct reflecting young children’s preparedness for instruction in areas related to both academic and social-emotional skills. Children who arrive to kindergarten with limited readiness in one or more of these areas face challenges in the transition into the kindergarten setting, and are susceptible to academic achievement over time.
Early Start Columbus, the City’s kindergarten readiness initiative, has helped prepare thousands of Columbus children for kindergarten over the last ten years. However, recent work by Future Ready Columbus, Franklin County’s early education-focused public private partnership, has shown that we must act earlier to be successful. The Office of Education wishes to implement a pilot program with Columbus Early Learning Centers, limited to the use of two (2) classrooms at the City's Hilltop Early Learning Center, to provide childcare and early learning activities for infants and toddlers under four-years of age and to assess the pilot program's impact on kindergarten readiness.
The City's current Operations Agreement with Columbus Early Learning Centers, authorized by City Council Ordinance 0441-2022, strictly limits the services provided at the City's Hilltop Early Learning Center to pre-kindergarten education for four-year olds. Consequently, a modification to the Operations Agreement is necessary to allow Columbus Early Learning Centers, as part of this pilot program, to provide childcare and early learning activities services to infants and toddlers under four-years of age.
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Finance and Management to execute an Appendix to the existing Operations Agreement with Columbus Early Learning Centers, on behalf of the Office of Education, to modify the agreement to allow, in a short term pilot program, pro...
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