Explanation
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is that every 4-year-old has access to a high-quality prekindergarten education. 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.
Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education experiences significantly improve their early literacy, language, and math skills. Ample evidence shows that children who enter school unprepared fall further and further behind. Students who get a poor start in their earliest years are likely to struggle in high school and, subsequently, fail to graduate.
Unfortunately, there are too few high-quality preschool providers in Columbus, especially in the Hilltop. Because of this, the Mayor convened the Hilltop Early Childhood Partnership in 2017. One of the recommendations of the Partnership was the development of a new early learning facility in the Hilltop to increase capacity. Design for the new facility is scheduled to begin imminently.
The success of this new initiative depends not only on the construction of the new facility. Enrolling subsidy-eligible children from the Hilltop neighborhood and developing a financially appropriate operating structure are crucial for the initiative’s success.
Pursuant to Columbus Code Section 329.29, which allows an agency to enter into a negotiated service contract with a non-profit organization, the Department of Education is seeking Council’s approval to enter into two contracts with IFF Real Estate Solutions.
In the first contract, IFF will provide to the City a Facility Operations Analysis, demonstrating a range of net operating income in operating projections based on factors that can influence revenue to cover costs necessary to operate the facility.
The second contract with IFF will provide to the City a general...
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