Explanation
Ordinances 2752-2015 and 1393-2015 granted the Department of Education the authority to enter into contracts with organizations to provide early education programs as part of Early Start Columbus.
The purpose of Early Start Columbus is to expand high-quality prekindergarten services for 4-year-olds living in the City of Columbus. Children who participate in high-quality prekindergarten experiences significantly improve their early literacy, language and math skills. Ample evidence shows that children who enter school unprepared fall farther and farther behind. Students who get a poor start in their earliest years are likely to struggle in high school and, subsequently, fail to graduate.
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is to create access to a high-quality prekindergarten education for every 4-year-old. Addressing early childhood learning means bringing awareness and resources to a critical learning stage in childhood development. Children who come to school ready to learn are more likely to succeed academically and in life.
For the 2015-2016 school year, Early Start Columbus program providers were appropriated funds based on the number children that they expected to serve. In some cases, providers were not able to enroll enough students to reach their expected capacity. Because of this, the providers have funds that are unspent, but still encumbered by the original ordinance.
This new ordinance, 1586-2016, gives the Director of the Department of Education the authority to extend the contracts of these providers for up to one year. This extension will allow existing providers to continue
providing prekindergarten services under Early Start Columbus until they have spent down their encumbered funds.
FISCAL IMPACT: No additional funds are needed to modify these agreements.
EMERGENCY DESIGNATION: Emergency designation is requested to ensure the contracts are extended before they expire.
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