STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: June 14, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Patty Acuna, Assistant Director of Community Services Jenny Rogers, Director of Community Services
Subject: City Council Liaisons (Councilmembers Friedman and Wunderlich) / BHUSD Committee Recommendations on Childcare for the Expanded Universal Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Program in Beverly Hills Attachments: 1. June 9, 2022 City Council Liaisons / BHUSD Committee Meeting Report, Update on the Universal TK Program by the Joint Task Force
INTRODUCTION
On March 21 and June 9, 2022, the City Council Liaisons / Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) Committee (Committee) met to discuss the impact of Assembly Bill 22 (AB 22) should it become law on our community and explore opportunities it presents for collaboration between the BHUSD and the City including expansion of Community Services Department programming on school campuses.
On July 9, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 130: Education finance:
education omnibus budget trailer bill (AB 130). This bill provided statutory changes necessary to implement the 2021-22 Budget Act, including the establishment of Universal Transitional Kindergarten.
Committee members in attendance on June 9, discussed the phased expansion of BHUSD’s Kindergarten program to extend to four-year-olds from their current five-yearold age limit beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. All students turning four years of age by June 30, 2021 would be eligible for TK by 2025. The implementation of this program in fall of 2022 will impact both City preschools as well as the City’s childcare services including Adventure Camp program and other afterschool enrichment programming.
DISCUSSION
The Joint Task Force which includes both District and City staff has been meeting this spring to explore development and implementation of childcare services that would provide the community with a “wrap around” solution for delivery of high quality early childhood education and afterschool enrichment / childcare services.
Meeting Date: June 14, 2022
The largest impact from the additional Universal TK programs provided by the District would be upon the City’s Afterschool Enrichment / Childcare Services including the Adventure Camp program. Additional City Childcare staff would need to be hired to provide additional Adventure Camp classrooms starting as early as 1pm to accommodate the early dismissal of the Kindergarten students and address the aftercare needs of working parents and families. Hawthorne Elementary currently has two Adventure Camp classrooms and a third would need to be added for parents seeking childcare for their 4-5 year olds enrolled in this program. This additional classroom would require the same state licensing requirements with age-appropriate furniture and restrooms. At Horace Mann, the City currently operates five Adventure Camp classrooms. The additional TK children in need of childcare would require a minimum of one classroom depending on the community’s childcare needs.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of increasing afterschool childcare programming for one additional classroom at each elementary school would require City funding to hire four additional Childcare Counselors. These positions would be partially offset by program revenue if the City elects to charge the regular program fee for these programs. Please note: the District has indicated they have some State grant funding to underwrite the cost of City afterschool programming for students who meet specific eligibility requirements. District and City staff are currently working out the logistics of how the City will enroll students who are eligible as part of the Community Services registration process and the specifics around invoicing and payments between the two organizations as part of this grant program.
Childcare Counselors
Number of positions 4
Annual cost per staff $46,816.70
Total for all 4 positions $187,266.80
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend City Council approve additional funding for the Community Services Department to hire four Part-Time Regular Childcare Counselors as part of the City’s Fiscal Year 2022-23 Adopted Budget. These positions would assist the City and the District in addressing increased community demand for quality childcare services including afterschool enrichment as a result of the influx of kindergarteners into the District from expansion of the CA State’s Universal TK program.
Jenny Rogers
Community Services Director
Approved By
ATTACHMENT 1
CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS
COMMUNITY SERVICES
MEMORANDUM
TO: City Council Liaison / BHUSD Committee
FROM: Patty Acuna, Assistant Director of Community Services DATE: June 9, 2022
SUBJECT: BHUSD Joint Task Force Update on Implementation of the Universal Transitional Kindergarten (TK) Program in Beverly Hills ATTACHMENT: None
INTRODUCTION
On Monday, March 21, 2022, the Beverly Hills City Council Liaisons / BHUSD Committee met to discuss Assembly Bill 22 (AB 22) and the impact it will have in our community and upon the BHUSD and the City’s Community Services Department programming. The Council Liaisons / BHUSD Committee recommended the creation of a Joint Task Force comprised of District and City staff to collaborate and work together to best address impacts from, and capitalize on opportunities presented by the CA State’s mandatory Universal TK program upon both the District and City programming.
DISCUSSION
On Tuesday, March 22, the Joint Task Force met including District employees and City staff tasked to collaborate on development and implementation of early childhood services that would provide the community with a “wrap around” solution to both educational and childcare services in the City. At the time of this first meeting, BHUSD had begun to accept fall enrollment of children with birthdays before June 30, 2018, on a first-come, first-serve basis. A total number of 73 students had enrolled initially at both schools. Based upon anticipated enrollment, it was expected that there would be a need for 2-to-3 additional classrooms at Hawthorne Elementary and 1-to-2 additional classrooms at Horace Mann. As of the week of April 26, Hawthorne’s enrollment had grown to 52 students (equaling a three-classroom capacity) and 28 students at Horace Mann (which will necessitate two additional classrooms). The new TK program will operate Monday - Friday, 8:30am – 1pm.
Community Services currently offers five preschool programs with two located on the Hawthorne Elementary campus from 9am – 2pm in dedicated rooms that include ageappropriate furniture, restrooms and an enclosed outdoor play area. The remaining three City Preschool programs are located at park sites, which include Coldwater Canyon, La Cienega Community Center and Roxbury Clubhouse (which currently remains virtual). Both City Preschool and Afterschool Childcare programs are state licensed and have specific site requirements based on the age groups enrolled in each of these programs. Preschool is offered by the City to children ages 3-5 years old. By increasing the age of the District’s free Universal TK program, the City preschool program would lose program participants that are 4 and 5 years old. Preschools operating at park sites are open to non-residents and could continue being offered to 3-5 year olds that do not reside in the City based upon current enrollment of nonresidents and the extensive waitlists for City preschools at these sites.
City staff sent a welcome letter and short survey in mid-April to gauge the interest for afterschool enrichment / childcare services starting in fall 2022. The survey results indicated 51% of the responses from Hawthorne Elementary and 48.2% from Horace Mann. This equated to a total of 29 responses with (44%) of parents responding that they would be interested in childcare until 3pm; and another 30% interested in childcare until 4PM. Lastly, over 59% of parent responses indicated that they have a second child / sibling attending a BHUSD school. Based on the limited responses received from this early survey, we anticipate that interest in childcare may grow exponentially as the start of the 2022/23 school year approaches. With the school year now coming to a conclusion, the most recent update on TK student registration indicates enrolled has now grown to 89 students.
With the current numbers of interested parents at each of the schools, City staff identified the following will be required to offer services to new incoming 4 and 5 year olds: the City will need to apply for two additional state licensing certificates; require one additional classroom at both Hawthorne and Horace Mann Elementary in addition to the current classrooms offering Adventure Camp; and request for funding for four additional Regular Part-Time Childcare Counselors (RPT). Per California State Licensing rules, the child to staff ratio is 1:8 and the maximum number of students enrolled would be limited to a total of 16 students per class.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact of increasing afterschool childcare programming for one additional classroom at each elementary school would require City funding to hire four additional Childcare Counselors. Total cost of this additional staffing would be $187,266.80 (4 positions at $46,816.70)
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that City Council Liaisons / BHUSD Committee review and recommend additional City funding to Council to provide necessary staff resources for childcare services as part of the expansion of Universal Transitional Kindergarten.