Thank you so much for all your efforts to support implementation of Act 166 of 2014. You know, as I know, how important an opportunity this is for our children and families, and, in particular, for some of our most vulnerable children and families. We know how critical these early years are, and don’t want to miss this opportunity.
Safety is a paramount concern. We are aware that some private providers are just beginning the CDD background checks and have not cleared in time for the start of the school year. To the extent possible, we want to ease the implementation of Act 166 while avoiding the undue burden on private partners of having to undergo multiple fingerprint checks for multiple district partners. This would simply increase cost and hassle for partners without increasing security for children or reducing the timeline.
With this memo, I suggest some strategies to support partnerships, while balancing the child safety intent of Act 1 (2009), 16 V.S.A. §§ 252 and 255, and our licensing regulations (which are focused on child safety) with the imperative to ensure every child has access to 10 hours a week for 35 weeks of high-quality pre-kindergarten.