DEPARTMENT: Pre-K 4 SA
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Sarah Baray, Ph.D.
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Competitive Grants Approval
SUMMARY:
Briefing and Board action to approve entities receiving awards from the Pre-K 4 SA Competitive Grants Program with a cumulative value of up to $2.7 million.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Pre-K 4 SA competitive grants were approved during the original vote in 2012. The vision for these grants was to provide additional full-day and/or enhanced prekindergarten services in existing programs for 1,700 students per year.
The RFP for Cycle 3 of the Competitive Education Grants for Pre-K Four Programs was released on December 20, 2019 and responses were due on February 7, 2020. A total of 10 entities submitted applications to be considered for grant funding.
The Pre-K 4 SA Board of Directors received a briefing on the awarded organizations and conducted a discussion/work session of the recommended proposals at the May 19, 2020 Board meeting.
ISSUE:
To achieve the goal of systematically creating a comprehensive, high-quality early learning system in San Antonio, Pre-K 4 SA's Competitive Grants will fund projects to expand or enhance educational opportunities for four-year-olds in San Antonio, especially programs that target underserved students. Funding will be distributed among two categories: 1) public and charter schools and 2) private and parochial schools.
In order to consider funding awards in these two categories, Pre-K 4 SA conducted a multi-stage evaluation process to review, score, and recommend applicants for funding:
1. Evaluation Committees: Two committees of education experts and community leaders were assembled to evaluate and score proposals in the public/charter and private/parochial categories.
2. Interviews: Interviews were conducted with the finalists that were recommended by the evaluation committees.
3. COVID-19 Check-in: To address the changed environment in which applicants are serving stude...
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