The Longmont City Council will take a look Tuesday at a proposal from the Early Childhood Alliance to establish an early childhood development special district.
The alliance will pitch a regional solution to secure a dedicated public funding stream for early care and learning services for children from birth to age 5. The proposed special district, if established, would encompass the Boulder and Weld county areas of the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts.
In materials provided to council for Tuesday’s meeting, the early childhood alliance details the need for early childhood resources in the Boulder and Weld County area for the approximately 20,000 children under age five.
Only 35% of children meet school readiness criteria when entering kindergarten, and only 20% of children from families who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Additionally, three children are waiting for every one child care or early learning opening available in Colorado, according to the materials.
The average per child cost for childcare and early learning for children under five is more than $21,000 annually, while 29% of families with young children do not make a living wage.
According to the materials, dedicated funding would be used to increase the number of quality child care and early learning openings available, create a range of coordinated services for early care, provide screenings and early intervention services, build quality programs through additional training and increase compensation for the child care and early learning workforce — along with paying for special district administration and evaluation.
The materials do not say how much the tax, which would have to be voter-approved, would be needed to support this special district. If this is placed on November’s ballot as planned, voters would decide whether to approve both establishing a special district and, separately, whether to add a local tax to fund it.
