Item:
Title
Discussion of Pre-K Expansion Management Contracting and Request to Initiate Contract Negotiations - 45 min
Body
Date of BOCC Meeting: March 8, 2018
Request for Board Action:
Agenda Text
The Board is requested to discuss the proposal received for management of the expansion of Durham County Pre-K and direct staff how to proceed, including possibly approving initiation of contract negotiations with the submitters of the single, joint proposal.
Durham County Pre-K is a concept and program long in the making, as universal pre-k has long been recognized here as a powerful intervention with the power to improve lives. In seeking to move beyond the state's NCPK allocation of subsidized seats in Durham (themselves only partial subsidies that do not meet the full cost of providing high quality pre-k), the Durham County Board of County Commissioners made a commitment to an initial 8 classrooms in the renovated Whitted School. These classrooms opened in the fall of 2017 with a County investment of $1.5 million. During FY17-18 budget deliberations, the County Commissioners and County Manager also committed to put up to $3.7 million in additional funding into the expansion of Durham County Pre-K in FY18-19. Staff were directed to take a variety of appropriate and necessary steps to prepare for this ongoing expansion.
In the fall of 2017, Durham County went under contract with Child Care Services Association to conduct a "supply and demand study" related to pre-k in Durham, a study which had been one of the principal recommendations of the Durham County Pre-School Task Force Report presented in the spring of 2017. That study and all its component parts is still underway, with interim information available over the course of the spring and final report due before the end of the fiscal year. It is also true, however, that we already know a good deal about the supply and demand for pre-k in Durham which can inform our expansion plans.
In December of...
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