Title
Early Childhood Education Expansion (Ordinance S-48769)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to enter into agreements with eligible contractors to provide early childhood education in an amount not to exceed $6 million for a two-year period, in aggregate. Further request to authorize the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available through the City's allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act funding received from the federal government and is under the Early Childhood Education Expansion program.
Report
Summary
Early childhood education focuses on the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical needs to develop a foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. Families are respected as the primary educators and nurturers of their children.
The City of Phoenix recognizes the profound impact of early childhood education on a young child’s school success. The City is expanding opportunities for children ages three to five to participate in high-quality, individualized, and developmentally appropriate center-based educational services in accordance with the Arizona Early Learning Standards and the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. Educational services will be provided by highly effective instructional staff in accordance with the Arizona Department of Education and the Head Start Program Performance Standards.
Procurement Information
On March 25, 2022, RFP-22-EDU-57 was issued in accordance with Administrative Regulation 3.10 for Competitive Sealed Proposals. Six offers were received on April 22, 2022.
The offers were determined to be responsive and responsible to the solicitation requirements. The offers were scored on the following criteria:
- Program Operations/Program Structure - 30 possible points;
- Curricula - 30 possible points;
- Child Screening and Assessment - 30 possible points;
- Parent and Family Engagement - 30 possible points;
- Safety Practices - 50 possible points;
- Health Practices - 30 possible points;
- Nutrition - 30 possible points;
- Mental Health Practices - 30 possible points;
- Kindergarten Transition - 20 possible points;
- Human Services Management - 30 possible points;
- Program Management and Continuous Quality Improvement - 30 possible points;
- Risk Assessment - 50 possible points; and
- Budget - 100 possible points.
The scores were as follows:
- Deer Valley Unified School District No. 97 - 477 points;
- Washington Elementary School District No. 6 - 473 points;
- Fowler Elementary School District No. 45 - 464 points;
- Alhambra Elementary School District No. 68 - 416 points;
- Greater Phoenix Urban League, Inc. - 370 points; and
- Out of This World Christian Child Care, Inc. - 158 points.
It is the consensus of the evaluation committee to recommend a contract award to:
- Alhambra Elementary School District No. 68;
- Deer Valley Unified School District No. 97;
- Fowler Elementary School District No. 45;
- Greater Phoenix Urban League, Inc.; and
- Washington Elementary School District No. 6.
Contract Term
The contract term shall begin on or about July 1, 2022, and will end on June 30, 2024, with no option to extend.
Financial Impact
Expenditures shall not exceed $6 million over the life of the contracts, in aggregate. Funding is provided through the American Rescue Plan Act. No additional General Funds are required.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and the Human Services Department.