News & Events

School Readiness Enrollment Opening

Coordinated Child Care will be enrolling income eligible children off of the waitlist! The Coalition has been awarded an additional $420,068 from the Child Care Executive Partnership to match $420,068 of local funding. Additional cost saving efforts in other School Readiness initiatives has resulted in a minimal surplus. Combined, we anticipate opening approximately 500 slots for income eligible children. These funds must be spent before June 30, 2010 and are not guaranteed next year. With our budget for next year uncertain, we will only be able to offer "short term" scholarships. The scholarships may be extended if funds are available. Letters will be going out to families in the next few weeks.

School Readiness Waitlist Priorities

The number of income eligible children ages birth to kindergarten enrolled under School Readiness is decreasing. Enrollment of children from the waitlist has historically been based solely on the date in which they entered the waitlist. Some children have been on the waitlist for over 18 months resulting in few infants being served. As children remain in care and continue to age, the number of school age children being served continues to increase.

Traditional enrollment of new children with the expected funds would not have a significant impact on children under 5 years who are waiting for services. The Coalition Board of Directors has approved a motion to prioritize new enrollments of income eligible children ages birth-5 years prior to kindergarten. This priority will be implemented immediately for all new enrollments from the waitlist.

Clarifications:

  1. This prioritization only impacts "income eligible" children.
  2. Children at-risk of abuse or neglect or who are on TANF are not on the waitlist regardless of age and will not be impacted by this change.
  3. No children of any age or eligibility category will be dis-enrolled. This prioritization only impacts new children coming off of the waitlist.

School Readiness Sibling Discount Reduced

In an effort to serve more children and promote self-sufficiency of families, the Board of Directors approved a motion to reduce the sibling discount applied to parent fees to 25%. The estimated $315,512 in cost savings will be re-allocated to serve approximately 78 additional income eligible children annually. The change in parent fee will be implemented over the course of the next year as families are determined or re-determined eligible for School Readiness starting June 1, 2010. Families determined eligible prior to June 1, 2010 will still receive the 50% discount until their next renewal. Total cost savings will not be realized until it is fully implemented over the next year.

VPK Provider Certification

The Coalition will continue to administer the VPK Provider Certification process for the remainder of this fiscal year. We have received several calls from providers interested in registering for the Summer and Fall programs. If you are interested in offering a summer program, please join us on our January 26th VPK Provider Conference call. At the end of this call we will discuss the application process for the summer program.

Beginning in February, we will be holding mandatory VPK Provider Contract meetings. Providers are required to attend one of the meetings offered. At this time, we will discuss the registration process and program requirements for Fall 2010.

February 3rd - 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm
February 11th - 9:30 am
February 25th - 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm
March 4th - 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm

All meetings will be held at in the Early Learning Coalition Professional Development Training Room at 5735 Rio Vista Drive, Clearwater 33760. Registration required.

Register Online or contact Jenifer Caccia, VPK Program Specialist at 727.548.1439 x29 or jcaccia@elcpinellas.org.

Request for Proposals #2009-001 for the delivery of School Readiness, VPK, and Quality Services

The Request for Proposals states in error that the Coalition will respond to all questions submitted with the last response issued January 23, 2010. The correct text should read "the Coalition will respond to all questions no later than 4:30pm January 26, 2010."

Please also see the Coalition's Business Operating Plan and Attachments.

ELC Pinellas eNewsletter

View our eNewsletters online

Back to Top

EARLY LEARNING COALITION OF PINELLAS COUNTY, INC.

5735 Rio Vista Drive • Clearwater, Florida 33760
Phone: (727) 548-1439 • Fax: (727) 548-1509