Explanation
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is that all children are ready for kindergarten. To reach this goal, the Department of Education uses different tools and collaborates with certain organizations in the preparation of our children. Ready4Success (R4S), administered by the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at the Ohio State University, uses a multi-pronged strategy to support providers in preparing children for Kindergarten success. The goal of the R4S initiative is to improve children’s outcomes and kindergarten readiness. It does so by focusing on the instructional practices of prekindergarten teachers.
On September 14, 2020 Columbus City Council approved ordinance 0902-2020, that allowed the Department of Education to partner with the Crane Center for the R4S program for the 2020-2021 academic year. On August 9, 2020, child care centers in Ohio were allowed to resume pre-pandemic class sizes and ratios, and the Crane Center was eager to begin their work in early education classrooms.
Understandably however, due to continued concerns regarding the pandemic and the number of families still working remotely, early education programs remained under-enrolled. Because of this, $75,247.00 in funding for R4S was allocated to the Crane Center, but was not spent. Though the Department of Education has requested new R4S funding (1408-2021) for the 2021-2022 school year, the effects of the pandemic linger and more students and teachers need critical coaching and instruction. Unfortunately, the Department of Education was unable to extend the original 2020-2021 contract before the contract expired.
Therefore, the Department of Education requests permission to enter into a new, additional contract with the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at the Ohio State University to continue this crucial work using funds allocated during the 2020-2021 school year.
FISCAL IMPACT: No additional funds...
Click here for full text