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WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL B SESSION.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
THE TIME IS 2:19 PM WE'LL BEGIN WITH OUR ROLL CALL, SIR.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
COUNCIL MEMBER ELIAS WILL NOT BE HERE TODAY.
COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE PRESENT.
UH, OR THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE.
UH, WE ARE HERE AT PRE-K FOUR SA EAST, UH, BECAUSE WE ARE RECEIVING OUR BRIEFING TODAY ON THE PRE-K FOUR SA PROGRAM, WHICH IS SET FOR RENEWAL NEXT YEAR.
UH, SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER, ERIC WALSH.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
SO WE'VE GOT TWO ITEMS ON TODAY'S AGENDA, AND WE'LL START.
UH, OUR FIRST ITEM WILL BE A BRIEFING ON THE CITY'S PREPARATIONS, UH, FOR THE UPCOMING 2020 CENSUS.
UH, AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, THE CENSUS WILL BE CONDUCTED, UH, NEXT APRIL 1ST, 2020.
UH, THE POPULATION DATA FROM THE CENSUS CERTAINLY WAS, IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT OUR COMMUNITY FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
AND THERE IS A CONCERTED EFFORT TO, UH, ENSURE WE HAVE A COMPLETE AND ACCURATE COUNT OF EVERYONE LIVING HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY.
THE CITY HAS BEEN ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN PREPARING FOR THE 2020 CENSUS FOR TWO YEARS NOW, AND HAS ALLOCATED FUNDING FOR OUTREACH EFFORTS, UH, TO EDUCATE RESIDENTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTICIPATING IN THE CENSUS.
BERTHA RODRIGUEZ, OUR, UH, CENSUS ADMINISTRATOR OUT OF, UH, GOVERNMENT PUBLIC AFFAIRS WILL BE PROVIDING TODAY'S BRIEFING.
SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO BERTHA.
THANK YOU, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, WALSH.
AND BEFORE I START MY PRESENTATION, I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, SOME KEY STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS THAT ARE HERE WITH US AS WELL.
UH, DWAYNE ROBINSON FROM THE COUNTY, WHO IS THE COUNTY LIAISON ON THE 2020 CENSUS COUNT EFFORT FOR THE COUNTY.
AND I ALSO, WE ALSO HAVE CELINE PENA FROM LIFTFUND AND REBECCA CILLO FROM U H SS, WHO I'D LIKE TO ASK, MAKE A FEW REMARKS ON THE BEHALF OF COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE.
UM, IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY.
I'M HOPING THAT WE GET TO SHARE OUR EXCITEMENT AROUND CENSUS 2022 THINGS.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE FUNDING.
AS YOU KNOW, OUR STATE SHORTCHANGED US.
UM, SO I'M SO GLAD YOU ALL STEPPED UP.
AND NOT ONLY DOES THAT HELP US, UM, REALLY DO THE WORK THAT WE NEED TO BE DOING RIGHT NOW, BUT IT'S ALSO LETTING US ASK OTHERS TO LEVERAGE YOUR LOCAL DOLLARS, UM, TO RAISE EVEN MORE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE MORE OF AN IMPACT SO THAT WE ARE SUCCESSFUL AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN IT'S NOT APRIL FOOLS.
UM, SECOND, ANYTHING YOU CAN DO FROM A CONSTITUENCY BASE IS SO IMPORTANT.
UM, WHAT THAT MEANS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, YOUR NEWSLETTERS ARE READ, YOUR MESSAGES ARE LISTENED TO.
SO, UM, REALLY AMPLIFYING YOUR VOICE IS GOING TO BE SUPER IMPORTANT.
AS YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF BARRIERS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN THE PROCESS TO GET TO CENSUS 2020, UM, AND WE'RE DOING OUR JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, OUR NGOS, OUR COMMUNITY LEADERS, ARE EQUIPPED WITH SIMPLE INFORMATION, UM, THAT HELPS REMOVE THOSE BARRIERS THAT HAVE BEEN PUT INTO PLACE.
EVEN THE MAIL OUT OF THE CENSUS IS ATROCIOUS.
UM, AND WE HAVE TO FIND WAYS TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN TRUST WHAT THEY RECEIVE.
UM, AND YOUR VOICE, AGAIN, WHEN THIS ROLLS OUT, IS GOING TO BE SUPER IMPORTANT.
SO, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE WE LEVERAGE IT TO BRING IN MORE MONEY.
UM, AND SECOND, YOUR VOICE IS GONNA BE SUPER IMPORTANT AS WE ENTER INTO THE SPRINGTIME.
UM, WITH THAT, I'M GONNA KICK IT OVER TO MY CO-CHAIR, REBECCA CILLO, WHO HAS BEEN AN AMAZING PARTNER
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IN THIS JOURNEY.AND WE DID NOT COORDINATE ON THE COLORS, JUST SO YOU KNOW.
SOMETIMES GREAT MINDS DO THINK ALIKE.
UM, ON BEHALF OF THE COUNTY, I AM THE COUNTY CO-CHAIR, AND SELENA IS YOUR APPOINTEE AS THE CI AS THE CITY CO-CHAIR.
THE COUNTY HAS 26 SUBURBAN COMMUNITIES.
EACH COMMUNITY HAS ITS OWN COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE.
OUR COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE FOR SAN ANTONIO BEAR COUNTY.
IT COMPRISES 53 MEMBERS THAT YOU AND THE COUNTY TOGETHER HAVE APPOINTED.
WE HAVE SIX MAJOR COMMITTEES RANGING E EVERYTHING FROM COMMUNITY AND FAITH-BASED MILITARY AND VETERANS BUSINESSES, EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS, AND, AND SEVERAL OTHER MAJOR, UH, HEART TO COUNT POPULATIONS THAT WE WILL BE TARGETING.
AND, AND WE WILL BE, UH, LOOKING AT HOW TO, HOW WE START TO MIX AND MATCH THOSE DOLLARS AND THE OUTREACH.
OUR COLLATERAL MATERIALS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ORDERED, AND THEY ARE BEING DELIVERED AS WE SPEAK.
SO WE ARE READY TO KICK IT OFF, WORKING WITH THE, WITH THE FED, WITH OUR FEDERAL PARTNERS, UH, AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT THAT MESSAGE GETS THROUGH IN, IN EVERY LANGUAGE POSSIBLE.
IN, IN SAN ANTONIO AND BEAR COUNTY, WE ALSO HAVE 220,000 PEOPLE THAT LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS, NOT COUNTING THE, THE SUBURBAN CITIES, WHICH IS ANOTHER 200,000.
SO TOGETHER, THAT'S ONE FIFTH OF THE TOTAL OF BEAR COUNTY'S POPULATION.
AND WE ARE READY AND WILLING AND JUMPING IN JUST AS OUR, OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS ARE AND GETTING THINGS STARTED AND WORKING WITH, UH, WITH ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP FIND AND BUILD THE TRUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, THE COMPLETE COUNT IS DONE AND THAT PEOPLE DO, UH, FEEL THAT THEY ARE, IT'S ALL RIGHT TO ANSWER THE SENTENCES, QUESTIONNAIRE, AND THAT THEY WILL DO IT PROMPTLY.
SO, WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, BUT WE'LL GIVE IT BACK TO BETA TO GO AHEAD AND, AND START THE PRESENTATION.
AND I ALSO WANTED TO RECOGNIZE ANOTHER KEY PARTNER IN THIS PROCESS, AND THAT'S THE CENSUS BUREAU, ROSANNA MENDOZA, WHO COULD NOT BE HERE WITH US TODAY, BUT AGAIN, A KEY PARTNER IN THIS PROCESS.
UH, THERE IS INTERPRETATION SERVICES IN THE BACK, IF ANYONE IS IN NEED OF IT.
UM, SO NOW WE'LL GET STARTED WITH A PRESENTATION.
SO THE 2020 CENSUS, AS WE'VE HEARD, IS A CRITICAL PART OF POPULATION COUNT THAT HAPPENS EVERY 10 YEARS.
IT'S CONSTITUTIONALLY MANDATED.
UH, THE PREMISE OF THAT BASICALLY IS TO HELP TO REAPPORTION THE CONGRESSIONAL SEATS ACROSS OUR COUNTRY IN 2020.
UM, THE OTHER IMPORTANT PIECE OF POPULATION DATA IS, UH, THE FISCAL IMPACT THAT IT HAS ON OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND, UH, FINALLY, THE IMPACT OF POPULATION DATA IS TO HELP US TO PLAN OUT THE FUTURE FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
SO, THE 2020 DECENNIAL WILL BE AN IMPORTANT, UH, CRITICAL INITIATIVE THAT WE TAKE ON AS A CITY THAT WE HELP SUPPORT THE BUREAU TO ENSURE THAT A COMPLETE COUNT IS DONE, AND ONE, AGAIN, THAT'LL IMPACT US FOR AN ENTIRE DECADE.
HOW DOES IT IMPACT TEXAS? WELL, WE KNOW FROM 2018 POPULATION ESTIMATES THAT, UH, TEXAS IS, UH, COULD GAIN TWO TO THREE CONGRESSIONAL SEATS.
UH, WE ALSO KNOW FROM THE POPULATION ESTIMATES THAT IF THERE'S AN UNDER COUNT, OUR FISCAL FUNDING COULD BE IMPACTED FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
UH, GEORGE WASHINGTON STUDY INDICATES THAT IF BY 1% WE DO AN UNDER COUNT IN TEXAS, WE COULD STAND TO LOSE $300 MILLION OVER THE COURSE OF 10 YEARS.
SO AN ACCURATE COUNT MEANS ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION AND ADEQUATE FUNDING.
SO HOW DOES THAT IMPACT BEXAR COUNTY, BRINGING IT A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME? UH, WE KNOW THAT PROGRAMS, UH, AND AGES IN SAN SAN ANTONIO RECEIVED CLOSE TO $11 BILLION IN 2017.
AND A COMPLETE COUNT WILL ENSURE THAT WE GET OUR FAIR SHARE OF THE TAXES THAT WE SEND TO WASHINGTON, COMING BACK INTO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, FOR PUBLIC SERVICES THAT BENEFIT AND IMPACT OUR, OUR RESIDENTS ON A DAILY BASIS.
UH, SOME STATISTICS AROUND WHO IS IMPACTED THE MOST.
ONE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATION IS OUR CHILDREN.
AND FEDERAL FUNDING HELPS TO, UH, PROVIDE HEALTHCARE ACCESS TO NEARLY 240,000 OF OUR CHILDREN HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY.
UH, IN ADDITION, UH, ANOTHER VULNERABLE POPULATION IS OUR SENIORS AND A LITTLE OVER 280,000 OF OUR SENIORS ACCESS THEIR HEALTHCARE THROUGH MEDICARE.
SO THOSE ARE THE TYPE OF PROGRAMS THAT WOULD BE IMPACTED IF WE DON'T GET A COMPLETE COUNT AND WE DON'T SHOW THE NEED OF OUR COMMUNITY WHEN IT COMES TO ACCESSING AND DRAWING DOWN FEDERAL FUNDS.
SO WHAT'S THE CHALLENGE FOR US? THERE'S AN, THE CENSUS SEEMS TO BE IMPORTANT.
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IMPORTANCE OF IT FROM A REPRESENTATION AND A FUNDING.AND SO THE CHALLENGE FOR US HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY IS THAT BASED ON CENSUS BUREAU DATA, WE KNOW THAT 25% OF OUR POPULATION LIVE IN HARD TO COUNT CENSUS TRACKS, HARD TO COUNT.
CENSUS TRACKS ARE AREAS THAT THE, THAT THE BUREAU HAS IDENTIFIED FROM HISTORICAL DATA IN TERMS OF, UH, SELF RESPONSE WHERE INDIVIDUALS RESIDE THAT ARE LEAST LIKELY TO SELF RESPOND.
SO WHAT THAT TRANSLATES TO US IS OUT OF THE APPROXIMATE 1.8 MILLION RESIDENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY, 481,000 OF THOSE RESIDENTS ARE AT RISK OF BEING UNDER COUNTED.
SO THAT'S THE CHALLENGE WE FACE.
WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS THAT ARE AT RISK OF EITHER NOT SELF RESPONDING OR NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE CENSUS.
SO CENSUS DAY, UH, IT'S NOT A JOKE, IT IS ON APRIL ONE.
UH, YOU CAN GO TO OUR, UH, SA BEXAR COUNTY WEBSITE AND SEE A DAILY COUNTDOWN PREPARING US FOR APRIL ONE.
WE'RE 167 DAYS OUT, AND WHAT WE ARE DOING IS TO PREPARE TO ENSURE THAT WE DON'T GET AN UNDER COUNT, THAT WE HAVE A FULL AND ACCURATE COUNT OF OUR POPULATIONS.
SO HOW WILL THE CENSUS WORK NEXT YEAR? WE, UH, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD A LOT ABOUT HOW THIS IS THE FIRST DECENNIAL WHERE, UH, THE QUESTIONNAIRE WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE, AND THAT IS A PLUS FOR THOSE THAT ARE TECH SAVVY AND DON'T LIVE IN THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT 19% OF OUR RESIDENTS IN SAN ANTONIO AND BARETT COUNTY LIVE IN AREAS THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS AND LIVE IN THAT DIGITAL DIVIDE, IF YOU WILL.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE SOME MESSAGING THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AROUND THAT.
THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS FOR FILLING OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE IN 2020.
UH, THIS IS, AGAIN, THE FIRST TIME IT'S AVAILABLE IN THREE, IN THREE FORMS, ONLINE PAPER, AND, UM, OVER THE TELEPHONE.
NOW, THE GOAL FOR THE BUREAU IS THAT RESIDENTS SELF RESPOND, ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE ENUMERATORS THAT GO INTO THE COMMUNITY, IF PEOPLE DON'T SELF RESPOND, THAT IS A MORE COSTLY METHOD OF ENUMERATING.
AND SO THE GOAL IS TO HAVE EVERYONE SELF RESPOND.
SO STARTING IN MID-MARCH, THE BUREAU WILL START, WILL MAIL OUT INVITATIONS TO HOUSEHOLDS, INVITING THEM TO GO ONLINE AND SELF RESPOND.
THERE WILL BE SEVERAL PIECES OF COMMUNICATIONS GOING INTO THE HOUSEHOLDS.
IF THEY DON'T SELF RESPOND, THE FOURTH COMMUNICATION THAT GOES INTO A HOUSEHOLD WILL HAVE THE ACTUAL QUESTIONNAIRE THAT AN INDIVID THAT THE HOUSEHOLDS CAN RESPOND.
AGAIN, THE GOAL WILL BE TO HAVE THEM FILL IT OUT AND SEND IT IN BEFORE AN ENUMERATOR, UM, HAS TO COME INTO COMMUNITY.
IN MAY, THE BUREAU WILL BEGIN WHAT THEY'RE TERMING, THE NON-RESPONSE FOLLOW UP, WHERE IF HOUSEHOLDS HAVEN'T RESPONDED BY THEN ENUMERATORS WILL COME KNOCK ON THEIR DOORS AND ASK FOR THE INFORMATION THAT'S ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE.
THE QUESTIONNAIRE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES.
THE ONLINE AND TELEPHONE QUESTIONNAIRE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN 12 LANGUAGES.
THE PAPER FORM WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE IN TWO LANGUAGES, ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
UH, THE BUREAU IS ALSO, UH, ABIDING BY THE A D A GUIDELINES WHERE THEY WILL MAKE AVAILABLE, UH, THE QUESTIONNAIRES IN A MANNER THAT, UH, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CAN FILL THAT OUT.
AND THAT INCLUDES, EVEN ON THE BACKEND, WHEN THE ENUMERATORS COME TO A HOME, THERE WILL BE THE OPPORTUNITY TO REQUEST EITHER IN LANGUAGE OR OTHER TYPES OF COMMUNICATIONS.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, IF THEY NEEDED SOMEONE TO, UM, PROVIDE A S L, THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO ASK TO HAVE SOMEONE COME BACK AND PROVIDE THAT.
UM, SO THE CENSUS AT THIS POINT, WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE'RE EDUCATING OUR COMMUNITY ON IS THAT THE CENSUS IS SAFE, FAST, AND IMPORTANT.
THE SAFE PORTION OF THIS, UH, SURROUNDS THE ELIMINATION OF THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTION THAT WAS, UM, UH, ON, UH, REMOVED ON JULY OF THIS SUMMER.
AND WE KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTION HAS BEEN REMOVED, THAT WE WILL HAVE TO WORK IN COMMUNITY TO UNDO SOME OF THE FEAR THAT WAS INSTILLED IN THE MEMBERS WHERE THIS QUESTION WOULD'VE IMPACTED.
AND SO, WE'RE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS WHO WORK WITH IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE POPULATIONS TO ENSURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THE CENSUS IS SAFE, THAT THE INFORMATION IS PROTECTED UNDER TITLE 13, AND THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CANNOT BY LAW SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES OR LAW ENFORCEMENTS.
AND THAT FOR 72 YEARS, YOUR INFORMATION IS PROTECTED.
UH, THE OTHER ASPECT OF THE, OF THE MESSAGING THAT WE'RE, UM, CONDUCTING IN COMMUNITY IS THAT IT, IT'S FAST.
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IS WHAT IS TERMED AS A SHORT FORM.AND FOR THOSE OF YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE LONG FORM, THE A C S FORM, WHICH TAKES 45 MINUTES TO CON TO FILL OUT, THIS ONE IS SCHEDULED TO ONLY TAKE ABOUT 10 TO 12 MINUTES.
UM, SO ONE OF THE, UH, THINGS THAT IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE MESSAGING AT THIS POINT, UH, IS RELATED TO SCAMS. AND WE'RE HEARING FEEDBACK FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
AND HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THIS IS GOING TO BE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? SO ONE COUPLE OF THINGS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THE CENSUS BUREAU, WILL NEVER DIRECTLY REACH OUT TO AN INDIVIDUAL BY EMAIL.
THEY WILL, UH, ONLY BE COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE MAIL.
THE SELF RESPONSE ASPECT OF IT IS THE SAFEST PORTION OF THE PROCESS, MEANING I GO ONLINE, I GIVE MY INFORMATION, AND I KNOW THAT I'VE GONE ON TO A SECURED SITE.
THE OTHER, UH, PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT, UH, WE WANT TO BEGIN TO SHARE WITH COMMUNITY IS YOU WILL NEVER BE ASKED FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
NO SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, NO BANKING INFORMATION, NO INFORMATION THAT REQUIRES ANYTHING OTHER THAN THOSE NINE QUESTIONS THAT ARE AGE, SEX, RACE, ETHNICITY, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION.
UH, SO WANT TO ENSURE THAT AS WE GET CLOSER TO APRIL ONE, THAT THESE TYPES OF MESSAGING TO, TO ENSURE THAT THE DATA IS SAFE AND SECURE, ARE, UH, PROMOTED IN COMMUNITY.
SO I'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE CHALLENGES AND, AND DON'T MEAN TO MAKE IT ALL GLOOM AND DOOM BECAUSE WE HAVE.
AND ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IS THAT THE CITY, UH, VERY EARLY ON STEPPED IN AND SAID, COUNT ME IN.
AND, UM, JUST AS A PLUG, COUNT ME IN AS OUR TAGLINE AND OUR BRANDING AND LOGO.
AND PART OF WHAT THE CITY'S COMMITMENT INVOLVED WAS BEGINNING BACK IN 2018 WITH STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS THAT BROUGHT IN, UH, ORGANIZ NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION, BUSINESSES AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS WHO WOULD BE THE TOUCHPOINTS IN OUR COMMUNITY TO REACH THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO MESSAGE TO.
UM, THERE WAS ALSO THE RESOLUTION OF POSING THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTION, WHICH THANKFULLY WAS REMOVED FROM THE QUESTIONNAIRE.
UM, UH, CO-CHAIRS TALKED ABOUT THE FUNDING THAT'S BEEN ALLOCATED.
$392,000 WILL BE ALLOCATED FOR MARKETING AND OUTREACH, UH, IN 2020.
AND THAT OUTREACH WILL ALIGN WITH THE CENSUS BUREAU'S COMMUNICATION STRATEGY, UH, BEGINNING IN JANUARY.
UM, THE OTHER, UH, VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE PROCESS WAS THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE CAME TOGETHER AND IN PARTNERSHIP FORMED A COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE.
AND WE ARE SEEING THE FRUITS OF THAT, AND I'LL SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, CO-CHAIR ALSO MENTIONED THAT WE ARE USING THE DOLLARS TO LEVERAGE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR OUTREACH AND MARKETING.
AND THAT IS HOPEFULLY TO FILL THE GAP THAT THE STATE DIDN'T, UH, PROVIDE ANY FUNDING FOR.
CURRENTLY, WE HAVE $225,000 IN ASKS, AND WE'RE GETTING READY TO, UM, GO TO A LOCAL FOUNDATION TOMORROW AND MAKE ANOTHER ASK OF ANOTHER $200,000.
SO ALL OF THAT, UH, WE WILL USE TO LEVERAGE WHAT IS BEING DONE BY THE BUREAU AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND HOPE TO HAVE A VERY EFFECTIVE OUTREACH STRATEGY.
SO THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE IS A VOLUNTEER ORGANIZING BODY MADE UP OF 53 LOCAL TRUSTED VOICES THAT WILL EDUCATE AND FORM AND ENGAGE ALL THE RESIDENTS TO RESPOND TO THE 2020 CENSUS.
UH, WE ARE WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION BUSINESSES AND THE CENSUS BUREAU TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT OUTREACH STRATEGIES THAT WILL MITIGATE THE BARRIERS FOR PARTICIPATION AMONG THOSE AT RISK OF BEING UNDER COUNTED.
THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE IS CRUCIAL TO ENSURING WE REACH ALL THE RESIDENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE AT RISK OF BEING UNDER COUNTED.
THOSE 481,000 INDIVIDUALS THAT I MENTIONED ARE AT RISK OF UNDER, OF BEING UNDER COUNTED.
SO HOW DID WE IDENTIFY WHO WE WERE GOING TO BE REACHING? UM, PART OF THE WORK THAT THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE DID IS WE, UH, DID SOME DEEP DIVE DATA ANALYSIS.
FIRST, WE STARTED WITH THE BUREAU DATA, AND WE LOOKED AT WHO THEY HAD ALREADY IDENTIFIED AS BEING AT RISK OF UNDER COUNTED THE TARGET POPULATIONS, UM, UH, WERE, UH, BASED ON SOCIO AND ECONOMIC DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, UH, BASED ON LOW SELF RESPONSE SCORES IN ADDITION TO OTHER, UH, KEY INDICATORS THAT THEY HAD DEVELOPED.
AND THE LIST OF, OF TARGET POPULATIONS IS LISTED.
AND SO WE WENT A STEP FURTHER, AND WE WENT AND LOOKED AT WHAT WE LOOKED LIKE IN TERMS OF THESE TARGET POPULATIONS.
AND WE FOUND THAT IN NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, UNFORTUNATELY, WE OVER-INDEXED IN THESE PERCENTAGES OF, OF RESIDENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO WE THEN, UM, TOOK A LOOK AT HOW CAN WE BEST APPROACH EACH OF THESE TARGET POPULATIONS? AND WE ESTABLISHED A, MY APOLOGIES.
THERE'S THE, THERE'S, THERE'S THE DEEP DIVE ANALYSIS ON THE PERCENTAGE.
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WHAT WE THEN DID WAS WE USED ALSO A MAPPING TOOL THAT THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS AVAILABLE TO IDENTIFY EXACTLY WHERE THESE, UH, TARGET POPULATIONS ARE RESIDING.AND I BELIEVE THERE WAS A PACKET OF INFORMATION.
THERE'S SOME INFORMATION DATA RUNS THAT, UH, WE DID THAT HIGHLIGHT BY DISTRICT, THE HARD TO COUNT CENSUS TRACKS THAT HAVE THE RESIDENTS THAT ARE THE HIGHEST AT RISK OF BEING UNDER COUNTED.
ALL OF THIS DATA WAS USED TO CREATE SUBCOMMITTEES THAT WOULD FOCUS THEIR EFFORTS AROUND REACHING THESE DIFFERENT POPULATIONS.
UH, WE FORMED SUBCOMMITTEES AROUND COMMUNITY AND FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, BUSINESS EDUCATION, MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS, UH, GOVERNMENT, MILITARY AND VETERANS, AS WELL AS A RURAL UNINCORPORATED AT SUBURBAN AREA.
WE MADE A VERY INTENTIONAL DECISION TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE GOING TO REACH EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THROUGH THE LEADERSHIP OF DWAYNE ROBINSON FROM THE COUNTY HAS BEEN HELPING US TO IDENTIFY WHAT ARE THOSE UNIQUE STRATEGIES THAT DON'T, THAT, THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER THAT MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM SUBURBAN AIR FROM OUR METRO AREA.
SO OVER THE SUMMER, THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEES SPENT, UH, QUITE A FEW WEEKS, I WOULD SAY ABOUT 12 WEEKS DOING SOME STRATEGIC PLANNING AROUND IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED TO ENSURE THAT, UH, ANY BARRIER THAT WE HAD IDENTIFIED COULD BE MITIGATED.
AND ANY AND THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT WE KNEW NEEDED TO COME AROUND, UH, TO HELP US MITIGATE THOSE BARRIERS WOULD, WE WOULD BE WORKING WITH.
UH, JUST A FEW EXAMPLES HERE TO HIGHLIGHT AROUND THE C B O FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY.
WE HAVE A TASK FORCE THAT'S WORKING WITH SEVEN DIFFERENT IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE STAKEHOLDERS THAT ARE GONNA DEVELOP UNIQUE STRATEGIES WITHIN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS TO REACH THE TARGET POPULATION.
UH, OUT OF THE BUSINESS SUBCOMMITTEE, WE'RE GETTING READY TO HAVE OUR FIRST TRAIN THE TRAINER SESSION NEXT WEEK WITH THE LARGE BUSINESSES THAT INCLUDE, UH, U S A A, COCA-COLA, H E B, UH, SS W B C.
WHAT WE'RE HOPING TO DO IS TO HELP THEM IDENTIFY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES AS WELL AS CONSUMER BASED STRATEGIES FROM AN EDUCATION PERSPECTIVE.
UH, WE HAVE MANY GREAT, UH, STRATEGIES COMING OUTTA THERE, AND THIS IS JUST ONE OF THEM.
WE, WE, UH, GATHERED ALL THE ISDS AND EIGHT ISDS HAVE COMMITTED TO A PSEUDO COLLECTIVE IMPACT APPROACH IN REACHING PARENTS WITHIN THEIR ISDS AND WITHIN THEIR CAMPUSES.
UH, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT OF ALL THE POPULATIONS THAT WE NEED TO ENSURE, GET COUNTED THAT OUR CHILDREN ARE COUNTED.
IN 2010, THE POPULATION UNDER FIVE WAS UNDERCOUNTED BY ALMOST BY A MILLION CHILDREN.
AND SO WE DON'T WANNA HAVE A REPEAT OF THAT.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO GET TO OUR, UH, CARETAKERS OF CHILDREN OF ALL AGES.
FROM A GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY VETERANS PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE STATE AND SENATE HOUSE LEADERSHIP TO DEVELOP, GET OUT THE COUNT STRATEGIES VERY SIMILAR TO GET OUT THE VOTE STRATEGIES.
UH, MEDIAN COMMUNICATIONS IS GOING TO BEGIN TO DEVELOP PSAS AND ADS, BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH THAT WILL BE TARGETED AGAINST, UH, EACH OF THE, UH, THE KEY POPULATIONS.
AND FROM A RURAL AND INCORPORATED SUBURBAN PERSPECTIVE, UH, WE'RE CO UH, WE'RE COORDINATING THE PARTICIPATION AND OUTREACH EFFORTS OF THE 26 SUBURBAN CITIES, AGAIN, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE COUNTY.
OH, SO WE, WE HAVE SOME EXTERNAL, UH, ACTIVITIES HAPPENING, AND WE ALSO HAVE SOME INTERNAL ACTIVITIES THAT ARE HAPPENING.
WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO REPORT THAT.
UH, WITHIN OUR OWN WALLS, WE HAVE DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS THE IMMIGRATION OFFICE AND THE, THE DIVISION OF DISABILITIES, UH, PROMOTING THE CENSUS ALREADY.
OUR SAN ANTONIO LIBRARY SYSTEM IS VERY ACTIVELY, UH, PR UH, PUTTING TOGETHER A STANDALONE STRATEGY WHERE WE WILL USE OUR BRANCH LIBRARIES TO PROVIDE RESOURCE SITES, PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE TECHNOLOGY THAT BI NEEDED TO FILL OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE ONLINE.
WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE WORKING WITH OUR HR DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP OUR OWN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IF WE'RE ASKING OTHER BUSINESSES TO DEVELOP, THEN I THINK THAT HAVING AN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY WILL BE IMPORTANT.
SO THOSE ARE JUST A FEW THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING, UH, WITHIN OUR OWN WALLS.
SO BEING PART OF THE COMPLETE COUNT.
AND HOW CAN YOU ENGAGE? AS I SAID EARLIER, WE DEFINITELY WANNA START MESSAGING THAT THE CENSUS IS SAFE AND IMPORTANT.
AND ONE OF THE WAYS THAT THAT COULD HAPPEN IS WE HAVE
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DEVELOPED A RESIDENT CENTRIC WEBSITE THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION ABOUT THE CENSUS, ITS IMPORTANCE, AND ACTUALLY HAS TOOLKITS, ANSWERS QUESTIONS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO INDIVIDUALS, UH, WITHIN EACH OF THE TARGET POPULATIONS.WE ALSO WANNA ENCOURAGE, UH, THE, THE RECRUITING ASPECT THAT THE BUREAU IS CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING.
THEY'RE GOING TO BE HIRING, UH, THOUSANDS OF EMPLOYEES TO DO TEMPORARY WORK, UH, STARTING IN 2020.
AND THEY ARE, UH, ASKING FOR US TO SUPPORT THAT EFFORT IN ANY WAY WE CAN.
SO, BEGINNING IN THE SPRING OF 2020, WE WANT TO BEGIN TO CREATE A CALL TO ACTION AROUND PARTICIPATION.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD ASK IF YOU CONSIDER, UM, INITIATING A GET OUT THE COUNT STRATEGY WITHIN YOUR DISTRICTS.
SO, UH, THAT CONCLUDES THE PRESENTATION.
UH, BERTHA, FOR THE PRESENTATION, UH, GOES WITHOUT STAYING.
THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT THIS COUNCIL DOES WITH REGARD TO THE FUTURE OF OUR, OUR CITY AND OUR REPRESENTATION AND FUNDING THAT FLOWS FROM THAT.
UM, I REALLY ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION, AND, AND THAT RELATES TO, UH, THE LEVEL OF RESOURCES THAT WE'VE ALLOCATED FOR THE PROCESS GOING FORWARD THROUGH Y 2020.
UM, BASED ON, UH, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING FROM OUR PEER CITIES AND WHAT, YOU KNOW, OUR LEVEL OF, UM, ACTIVITY WILL BE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, ARE, ARE, DOES THE COMMITTEE, DOES THE DEPARTMENT HAVE WHAT IT NEEDS FROM THE COUNCIL, UH, TO CONDUCT A FULL COUNT? SO WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE CO-CHAIRS AND WHAT WE, UH, WE RESEARCHED SOME OUTSIDE FUNDING OUTREACH LEVELS, AND WE FOUND THERE WAS A, UH, STUDY DONE THAT SHOWED THAT, UH, THERE WAS ABOUT A $2 PER PERSON COST ACROSS A 100% REACH, BUT THAT THERE WOULD BE A 25 PER PERSON COST ACROSS A MORE DEDICATED EFFORT.
SO, UH, WHAT THE CO-CHAIRS HAVE DONE IS IDENTIFIED A FUNDING LEVEL OF $1.2 MILLION.
AND PART OF WHAT IS OCCURRING IS WE'RE USING THE DOLLARS THE CITY HAS ALLOCATED TO LEVERAGE REACHING THAT 1.2 MILLION.
WE HAVE SOME LOCAL FOUNDATIONS WHO HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN FUNDING THE OUTREACH EFFORTS THAT THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE IS ENGAGING IN.
AND SO I WOULD SAY THAT AT THAT FUNDING LEVEL, WE WOULD HAVE ADEQUATE OUTREACH TO ENSURE A COMPLETE COUNT.
WELL, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE AND THE COMMITTEE FEELS COMFORTABLE AS IT MOVES ALONG, IF THERE ARE ANY, UM, UH, RESOURCES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED AS IT AS IT'S CONDUCTED THROUGH THE YEAR THAT, UH, WE HAVE THAT FORUM TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS AS NEEDED.
UM, AND I ALSO WANTED TO, YOU KNOW, TALK, UM, MORE GENERALLY ABOUT THE PROCESS FOR MY COLLEAGUES.
YOU ALL HAVE THE VOICES OF YOUR COMMUNITIES, YOU KNOW, HOW TO REACH, UH, FOLKS THE BEST.
SO PLEASE DIG INTO THIS IF THE COMMITTEE, OR PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE COMMITTEE, SEE WHAT THEY NEED FROM YOUR COMMUNICATION, UM, TOOLS AVAILABLE SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN MOVE ALONG IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER.
BUT IT, IT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE REACH EVERYONE, UH, IN OUR COMMUNITY, UH, REGARDLESS OF THEIR STATUS, THEIR LOCATION, THEIR AGE, AND SO FORTH.
SO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE WORK, BERTHA.
I, I THINK I'M VERY PROUD THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN SUCH GOOD PARTNERS ALREADY.
THANK YOU TO THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE, TO MY APPOINTEES IN PARTICULAR, ENRIQUE AND JUANI.
THEY'VE BEEN DOING A, A GOOD JOB.
ENRIQUE IS VERY, VERY INVESTED IN THIS TOO, AND HE'S DOING A WONDERFUL JOB.
UM, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN THERE KNOWING HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS AND THAT EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE A PART OF THIS.
SO MAYBE SOME PEOPLE CANNOT EVEN, UM, MAYBE THEY'RE TOO YOUNG TO VOTE.
MAYBE THEY DON'T HAVE THE PROPER DOCUMENTATION TO VOTE.
AND THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A PART OF WHAT WE NEED TO DO IN THIS COUNTRY, AND THEM DOING THEIR PART OF, FOR OUR, OUR THIS NATION IS TO GET COUNTED.
SO WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE AS MANY PEOPLE A PART, WELL, EVERYBODY A PART OF THIS.
UM, AND SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO INVITE YOU ALL, JUST SO YOU KNOW, COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO INVITE YOU ALL OUT TO OUR, UM, DISTRICT THREE EVENTS, CONTINUE TO INVITE WHAT, UM, ANY COMMUNITY EVENTS THAT WE HAVE JUST TO GET IT IN THE PEOPLE IN PEOPLE'S MINDS.
'CAUSE SOME PEOPLE, YOU TALK ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION OR THE CITIZENSHIP QUESTION, MANY PEOPLE DON'T EVEN REALIZE THAT THE CENSUS IS COMING UP.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT'S IN OUR BENEFIT IN A WAY, BECAUSE NOW WE CAN BE THE, THE VOICE, THE TRUSTED VOICE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE TO SAY, BE COUNTED.
UM, AND ON THAT NOTE, UH, I KNOW THIS, CONGRATULATIONS.
[00:30:01]
WE HAD THE GRAND OPENING FOR OUR OFFICES OR ONE OF THE GRAND OPENINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE OFFICES.CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THESE OFFICES ARE GOING TO BE DOING? UH, UH, COUNCILWOMAN VIA GRANT? I WILL, UH, ASK TO DEFER THAT WHEN I SPEAK TO THE BUREAU.
WE'RE STILL TRYING TO GET CLARIFICATION FROM THEM.
THEY JUST OPEN AND THEY'RE BRAND NEW, UH, ACROSS THE STATE.
AND SO WE HAVE ASKED, AND IF I MAY GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
AND IF YOU CAN GIVE BACK TO ALL OF OUR, UM, JUST LIKE YOU'RE DOING IN OUTREACH AND EDUCATION, MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR, UH, COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE MEMBERS CAN INFORM US OF WHAT THOSE, UM, THOSE OFFICES ARE GOING TO BE, HOW THEY'RE GOING TO BE UTILIZED.
AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE MORE THAN ONE, I BELIEVE, IN THE CITY, CORRECT.
SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT.
AND AT THAT EVENT, YOU ALL, AND WE TALKED ABOUT IT IN, UH, I G R THIS WEEK, UM, ONE OF THE SPEAKERS WAS REPRESENTATIVE, UH, DIEGO BERNAL, AND HE CAME UP AND HE DID, JUST APOLOGIZED, UH, ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OF TEXAS FOR NOT GIVE, PUTTING IN MONEY FOR THIS.
OUR CENSUS 2020, BECAUSE WE ARE DOING A DISSERVICE TO ALL TEXANS BY NOT, I'M SPEAKING FOR MYSELF TO ALL TEXANS BY NOT PUTTING MONEY IN THIS BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU ALREADY PUT UP THERE.
SO WE NEED, WE, UM, THE MAYOR AND ALL OF THE COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, WE SAID THAT THIS WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR US.
THAT'S WHY WE HAD, UM, MONEY MOVING FORWARD.
I DID WANNA TALK ABOUT THOUGH, THE PROCESS, APRIL ONE IS CENSUS DAY.
AND YOU MENTIONED, UM, NOBODY WILL REACH OUT TO YOU.
SO EXPLAIN TO ME ABOUT THE PROCESS AGAIN, I FORGOT WHAT SLIDE IT IS.
SO THE MAILOUT STRATEGY THAT THE BUREAU WILL BE CONDUCTING IS THAT, SO SLIDE EIGHT, IF YOU COULD PUT THAT THERE, SLIDE EIGHT IF YOU COULD.
I THINK AV WAS GOING TO HELP FIND SLIDES ONCE WE GOT TO THIS POINT.
SO THE STRATEGY THAT THE BUREAU WILL BE IMPLEMENTING IS THAT THERE WILL BE FOUR COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH THE MAIL.
THE FIR AND THE FIRST THREE WILL BE INVITING HOUSEHOLDS TO GO ONLINE AND SELF RESPOND.
IF BY THAT THIRD MAIL OUT, A HOUSEHOLD HAS NOT SELF RESPONDED ONLINE, THEY WILL RECEIVE A FOURTH PIECE OF MAILING THAT SAYS, PLEASE SELF RESPOND.
AND HERE IS A PAPER QUESTIONNAIRE FORM FOR YOU TO SELF RESPOND.
AND SO AFTER THAT FOURTH MAIL OUT, IF THE HOUSEHOLD STILL HAS NOT SELF RESPONDED, THEY WILL GO INTO A NON-RESPONSE FOLLOW UP CATEGORY, AND EN NUMERATOR WILL COME OUT TO THEIR HOME TO GATHER THAT DATA.
SO THEY CAN CHOOSE BETWEEN, UH, ONLINE OR A PHONE CALL.
THEY CAN CHOOSE TO SELF RESPOND ONLINE AND BY PHONE BEFORE THAT FOURTH MAILOUT.
BUT ON THAT FOURTH MAILOUT BY PAPER FORM.
AND JUST TO ALSO MAKE NOTE THAT THE CENSUS BUREAU IS THE ONLY ENTITY THAT WILL BE ENUMERATING OUR COMMUNITY, THE CITY NOR THE COUNTY.
THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE, UH, WILL NOT BE PART OF THE DATA COLLECTION.
AND THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO, UH, PROMOTE AS WELL.
I KNOW SOME OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS WERE EAGER TO HELP OUR RESIDENTS, BUT, UH, BASED ON THE PRIVACY TITLE 13 ASPECT OF IT, ONLY THE BUREAU WILL BE ENUMERATING.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
AND THAT WILL ONLY, SO THE, UM, THE CENSUS BUREAU, SO IF SOMEBODY CALLS YOUR HOUSE SAYING THAT THEY'RE THE CENSUS BUREAU AND THEY NEED INFORMATION FROM YOU, UM, WHAT SHOULD RESIDENTS SAY? THEY SHOULD JUST HANG UP.
BE, UM, AND ON ANOTHER NOTE, UM, DURING MARCH IT'S WE'RE, UH, IT'S ALSO A BIG SEASON WITH, UM, ELECTIONS, UH, PRIMARIES.
SO THERE WILL BE A LOT OF MAIL PIECES THAT PEOPLE WILL BE GETTING.
SO IT'S GOING TO BE ON, UM, THE ONUS AND RESPONSIBILITY IS ON US TO REMIND OUR CONSTITUENCIES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CHECK THEIR MAIL, UM, AND LOOK FOR THE CENSUS, UH, THE US CENSUS.
THERE'LL BE A LOT OF CLUTTER TO BREAK THROUGH.
UH, FROM A MAILING PERSPECTIVE AND FROM A MESSAGING PERSPECTIVE, FROM A MEDIA PERSPECTIVE.
AND, UH, THE GOAL IS TO MESSAGE IN A WAY THAT BREAKS THROUGH THAT CLUTTER.
AND WILL YOU COME BACK AND SHOW US, OR AT LEAST IN COMMITTEES, IF YOU WILL, UM, WHAT THE, THE, IT WILL LOOK LIKE, THE MAIL PIECE, WHAT OUR RESIDENTS SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR, AND, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL FOR US.
SO WE HAVE THE ACTUAL FORM, BUT THE MAIL OUT WILL HAVE AN OFFICIAL, UM, CENSUS BUREAU LOGO ON IT.
IT'LL SAY THIS IS REQUIRED BY LAW.
[00:35:01]
SAMPLES ALREADY YEAH.BUT AS SOON AS WE GET THE, THE, THE REAL FORM, UH, PACKAGING, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR US.
AND I THINK, UH, WE'LL ALSO BE USING THAT IN SOME OF OUR, OUR MARKETING MATERIALS.
UM, AND THEN I THINK, UH, Y'ALL ARE DOING A GREAT JOB, AND I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND WHEN IT COMES TO FUNDING TOO, AND TO OUR, OUR CHAIRS, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OR IF THERE ARE GAPS, LET US KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK, BECAUSE WE NEED TO GET THIS RIGHT.
UM, BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT MORE ON THE BACKEND THAT WE WILL LOSE IF WE DON'T GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME.
SO, UM, PLEASE SPEAK UP WHEN WE NEED TO, TO HEAR THAT FROM YOU ALL.
AND I THINK, UH, JUST TO THE A COMMENT, MY CLOSING COMMENT IS, IS IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE GET ALL OF THIS INFORMATION, THAT WE GET ALL OF THESE NUMBERS CORRECT, AND THAT WE DO OUR PART AS A COMMUNITY, UM, BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT REPRESENTATION AND IT'S ALSO ABOUT WHERE WE NEED TO PUT OUR MONEY IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, WE JUST DID GET THESE, UH, CENSUS NUMBERS ABOUT POVERTY IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO FROM 2017 TO 2018.
THE CENSUS IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT FOR ALL OF US.
SO I THINK AS WE CONTINUE IN THIS CONVERSATION OF WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ABOUT POVERTY IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, THE CENSUS IS INTEGRAL PART OF THAT.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
ALSO WANTED TO TAKE THE TIME TO THANK SELENA PENA AND, AND RAIO FOR BEING HERE, FOR BEING OUR FEARLESS LEADERS ON THIS.
UM, I WANTED TO ALSO, UH, THANK STATE REPRESENTATIVE ENA MJA.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE HAS ANYONE HERE TODAY.
UH, BUT SHE INVITED US TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON REDISTRICTING LAST MONTH, AND WE WERE ABLE TO DELIVER TESTIMONY ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
AND, UM, THEY WERE VERY, UH, HAPPY THAT WE HAD ALLOCATED FUNDING TO THIS.
SO, UM, SO HAPPY TO REPORT OUT ON THAT.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE HAVE THE MOST, WE HAVE ADDED THE MOST RESIDENTS OUT OF ANY CITY IN THE COUNTRY.
AND SO I DEFINITELY THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT SAN ANTONIO REALLY FOCUSES ON THIS.
I AM PARTICULARLY REALLY CONCERNED BECAUSE HAVING THIS NICE CHART IN FRONT OF ME, I NOTICE THAT MOST OF THE BLUE IS IN MY AREA, IS IN DISTRICT FOUR.
AND SO THAT'S REALLY SCARY TO ME.
SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE WORK TOGETHER AND I, I, YOU KNOW, FULLY BE SUPPORTIVE OF, OF ANYTHING THAT YOU NEED ME TO DO ON, ON, ON YOUR BEHALF TO ADVOCATE TO THE RESIDENTS OF DISTRICT FOUR IN PARTICULAR.
UM, AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH ANY ORGANIZATIONS THAT NEED SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
SO IF YOU WANT ME TO ATTEND A TRAIN THE TRAINER OR WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED FOR, FOR ME TO HELP WITH, I'D BE HAPPY TO DO THAT.
I KNOW COPS METRO WAS AT THE REDISTRICTING HEARING AS WELL, AND THEY CAME OUT IN FULL SUPPORT, SO I KNOW THEY'RE READY TO WORK WITH US.
UM, I WAS HAVING, I WONDER ABOUT THE QUESTION.
WHAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE COMMITTED ALREADY TO WORKING WITH Y'ALL? DO YOU HAVE A LIST AND, AND ANY WAY THAT WE CAN MAYBE HELP WITH THAT? YES.
UM, SO THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT HAVE COMMITTED ARE NORTH SIDE, NORTHEAST, SOUTH SAN EAST, CENTRAL, LACKLAND, HARLANDALE, JUDSON, SAN ANTONIO.
I ONLY HEARD ONE OF THOSE IN MY DISTRICT DISTRICTS.
I'LL WORK ON THE OTHER ONES FOR YOU.
UM, AND SO I ALSO, UM, I, I WAS WONDERING IF, AS WE GET MORE INVOLVED, UM, WHAT OTHER OUT OF THE BOX, UH, EFFORTS WE'RE TAKING TO REACH OUT TO FOLKS? SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID FOR THE BUDGET SESSION IS WE, WE TOOK, UM, THE BUDGET PRESENTATION OUT TO TRADERS VILLAGE.
WHEN I MENTIONED THIS TO THE VICE CHAIR, HE THOUGHT IT WAS BRILLIANT, AND HE SAID, I'M GONNA DO THAT IN GRAND PRAIRIE.
SO THAT WAS REALLY NICE AND REASSURING.
UM, SO I'M JUST TRYING TO SEE IF THERE'S OTHER OUTSIDE THE BOX VENUES THAT YOU ALL ARE PUSHING THE INFORMATION.
WELL, WE DEFINITELY WOULD WELCOME THOSE OUT OF THE BOX STRATEGIES, UH, THAT WOULD HELP REACH THE TARGET POPULATIONS WITHIN YOUR DISTRICT OR WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
SO, YES, PLEASE, UH, FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO US.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING, THE OTHER QUICK QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, UM, HAVE YOU ALL MADE CONTACT WITH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES ALREADY AND SEEN MAYBE HOW WE CAN TRAIN, UM, MAYBE FACULTY MEMBERS THAT CAN THEN TRAIN THEIR STUDENTS AND TRY TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL, UM, FOLKS TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT? YES.
BLANTON FROM TEXAS A AND SAN ANTONIO, THEY CONVENED 12 PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND PROPRIETARY HIGHER ED INSTITUTIONS.
AND THEY'VE DEVELOPED, UH, 10 COLLECTIVE IMPACT APPROACHES TO, UH, PROMOTING THE CENSUS.
ALL OF THE UNIVERS, ALL OF THE HIGHER ED, UH, INSTITUTIONS THAT CAME TOGETHER SAID, WE WILL, WE, WE GUARANTEE THESE 10 STRATEGIES ACROSS ALL OUR CAMPUSES.
AND IT RANGES FROM, UH, PSAS BY THE PRESIDENTS TO, UH, THE SPRING BACK TO SCHOOL EVENTS.
[00:40:01]
WE HAVE A STRONG COMMITMENT FROM OUR HIGHER ED THAT WILL FOCUS ON OUR YOUNG AND MOBILE POPULATION.AND I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S GREAT NEWS.
SO WE, YOU KNOW, MULTIPLIER EFFORTS THERE.
AND THEN, UM, MY FINAL QUESTION, IT'S MORE JUST A CONSIDERATION.
UH, WHAT COUNCIL COMMITTEES WILL YOU BE PRESENTING INFORMATION TO? I KNOW I G R I'M ON THE I G R COMMITTEE, AND WE'VE BEEN INVOLVED JUST, UH, FROM, FROM A, THE, THE LEGISLATIVE PERSPECTIVE, IF YOU WILL.
BUT WHAT OTHER, WHAT OTHER COUNCIL COMMITTEES WILL YOU BE WORKING WITH OR REPORTING OUT THROUGH AND JUST KEEPING US GOVERNANCE, I THOUGHT GOVERNANCE, GOVERNOR.
UM, I DIDN'T KNOW IF IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT ALSO SHOULD BE REPORTED OUT THROUGH, UH, HEALTH INEQUITY.
AND I KNOW COUNCILMAN, UH, SANDOVAL IS THE CHAIR, BUT I, I WAS TRYING TO JUST GET AS MUCH, UH, INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE TO THANKS, BERT.
UM, I THINK YOU'RE TOUCHING ON A CRITICAL POINT, WHICH IS THIS REALLY TOUCHES ALL THE AREAS THAT YOU, YOU WORK IN.
I THINK THE DESIRE, UH, I BELIEVE FROM THE MAYOR WAS TO HAVE REGULAR UPDATES TO GOVERNANCE.
WE'RE TALKING AT I G R BECAUSE OF THE RELATION TO REDISTRICTING.
SO WE TALKED ALL ABOUT THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS, UH, THIS WEEK.
UH, AND I, AND I AGREE FROM A COMMUNITY EQUITY STANDPOINT, THIS, THIS ALIGNS PERFECTLY AS WELL.
SO WE'RE HAPPY TO PROVIDE AS MANY UPDATES AS YOU ALL WILL LISTEN TO.
IT'S, UH, IT'S GONNA BE SO IMPORTANT BETWEEN NOW AND, AND THE END OF THE PROCESS.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU TO THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE AND FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
A LOT OF MY QUESTIONS, UM, WERE ACTUALLY ANSWERED IN THIS, IN THE PRESENTATION, AND SO THAT IS A GREAT, GREAT THING.
UM, THE ONE THING THAT I, I WAS GONNA ASK ABOUT IS FOR THE HOMELESS POPULATION, EXACTLY, WHAT ARE THE STEPS THAT ARE BEING TAKEN TO CONSIDER THOSE THAT ARE UNSHELTERED OR IN A SHELTER, EXACTLY HOW THAT'S GONNA GO, IF IT'S THROUGH CASE MANAGEMENT, OR IS IT THROUGH DIRECT CONTACT? A LOT OF THEM, UM, MAY BE, UM, UNABLE TO, TO TRULY UNDERSTAND, UH, FROM A MENTAL STANDPOINT.
HOW IS THAT, IS THAT A MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDER THAT WILL BE USED? HOW DO WE GET THOSE, UM, NUMBERS? ACTUALLY, YES.
COUNCILWOMAN, THE ENUMERATION FOR THE HOMELESS, BOTH SHELTERED AND UNSHELTERED, WILL BE HANDLED DIRECTLY BY THE CENSUS BUREAU.
BUT WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER, UH, MOLLY GLARY OF HAVEN FOR HOPE, WHO IS WORKING WITH BRENDA MOSCATO FROM, UH, SARAH WHO DOES, SARAH DOES THE POINT IN TIME COUNT OF OUR HOMELESS POPULATION.
AND WHAT WE ARE GOING TO BE PROVIDING THE BUREAU IS ADVANCED CONTACTS OF EMERGENCY SHELTERS, UNSHELTERED, UH, UH, POINTS WHERE THE SARAH POINT IN TIME HAS IDENTIFIED HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS TO BE, AND THAT INFORMATION WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE BUREAU.
THEY WILL USE THAT TO MAKE AN ADMINISTRATIVE COUNT OF THE SHELTERED, BUT THEN THEY WILL GO OUT INTO COMMUNITY TO ACTUALLY ENUMERATE.
AND WHAT, WHAT THE COMMITTEE IS LOOKING TO DO IS PROVIDE EDUCATION DURING THE POINT IN TIME, COUNT A, LETTING THEM KNOW THAT IN PROBABLY LESS THAN SEVEN TO EIGHT WEEKS, THE BUREAU WILL BE COMING IN AND FOR THEM TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT COUNT AS WELL.
SO IT'S BEING MANAGED DIRECTLY BY THE BUREAU, BUT OUR ROLE WILL BE TO HELP EDUCATE, UH, THE HOMELESS POPULATION TO PARTICIPATE AND WORKING DIRECTLY WITH, UH, THOSE PROVIDERS THAT TOUCH THE HOMELESS EVERY DAY.
UM, ALSO, WHEN IT COMES TO LITERACY BARRIERS, UM, VISUAL, UH, PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS.
WHAT IS THE, THE PLAN TO, TO GET THEM BESIDES JUST THE CALL OR THE MAILING, THE MAIL OUTS EXACTLY.
HOW CAN WE GET THOSE, THOSE INDIVIDUALS TRULY TO UNDERSTAND? BECAUSE A LOT OF THEM, IF THEY CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE LIBRARY OR THEY CAN'T EVEN READ THE PIECE OF MAIL THAT THEY GET, IT JUST NORMALLY GETS PUSHED OVER TO THE SIDE, RIGHT? SO WHAT STEPS ARE, ARE BEING TAKEN BESIDES JUST PICK UP A PHONE AND CALL OR WAIT FOR SOMEBODY TO COME BY? SO WE ARE WORKING, UH, DIRECTLY WITH MELANIE COFFIN OF DISABILITY SA.
SHE WILL BE CONVENING A PLANNING SESSION WITH ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORK DIRECTLY WITH INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO HELP US IDENTIFY WHAT WILL BE THE BEST WAY TO MESSAGE TO THEM, WHAT WILL BE THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE THAT THEY GET COUNTED.
AND SO WE WILL BE DEVELOPING THOSE STRATEGIES, UH, WITHIN THE, THE MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER.
UM, SO, UH, LIKE MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUE, UH, COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA, WE DO A LOT OF TAKE IT TO THE DISTRICT, UM, POINT PREFERENCES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY SEE IT
[00:45:01]
FROM A PERSPECTIVE HOW WE AS A COUNCIL RECEIVE IT.AND SO, UM, WE'VE DONE IT WITH THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN.
WE'VE DONE IT WITH THE BUDGET.
AND SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I TRULY WOULD LOVE BECAUSE WITH DISTRICT TWO WE HAVE HERE IN THE NORTHEAST AREA AND THE EAST SIDE AREA MM-HMM.
AND SO, FULL TRANSPARENCY ACROSS THE BOARD OF WHAT WE'RE DOING, UM, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT HAPPEN.
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS PRESENTATION OR SOMEONE FROM THE COMMITTEE COME OUT TO THE ACTUAL EVENTS THAT WE HAVE PLANNED TO SET UP A BOOTH.
UM, CAN WE ACTUALLY START PUTTING IN OUR DATES NOW TO HAVE YOU BE OFFICIALLY THERE AT THE EVENTS THAT WE'RE HAVING? YES.
AND WE WELCOME THAT OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN COMMUNITY WHERE THOSE TOUCHPOINTS ARE, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT IT'LL REQUIRE MULTIPLE TOUCHPOINT TO ENSURE A CALL TO ACTION ON THE BACK END.
SO YES, PLEASE DO REACH OUT AND WE WILL CIRCLE BACK WITH THE DISTRICT OFFICES, UH, TO SEE HOW WE CAN ENGAGE SPECIFICALLY WITHIN YOUR DISTRICTS.
AND THEN MY LAST AND FINAL QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, IS FROM A COMMUNICATION STANDPOINT OF THE DISTRICT OFFICE IS, OR WE WERE ABLE TO JUST START CREATING OUR OWN CONTENT THAT WE CAN START PUSHING OUT THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA, START PUSHING OUT THROUGH OUR OWN PERSONAL, UH, YES.
AND I CAN REACH OUT TO YOU AND, AND, AND SHARE WITH YOU THE, THE MATERIALS THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE AND ENSURE THAT, UH, WHAT YOU ARE NEEDING IS WHAT WE CAN PROVIDE.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, COUNCIL MEMBER KEO HDA.
UM, I MENTIONED MY CONCERN AT I G R AND YOU ADDRESSED IT HERE TODAY SOMEWHAT, BUT FOR THE WHOLE GROUP, I WANNA RESTATE IT.
UM, I RECEIVED COMMUNICATION FROM A RESIDENT THAT RECEIVED A SECURITY NOTICE FROM THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION.
AND IT SAID THAT, UM, THERE WERE INDIVIDUALS PRETENDING TO BE CENSUS WORKERS AND NOT TO ENGAGE WITH THEM.
SO MY CONCERN IS TWOFOLD, NUMBER ONE, OF COURSE, THAT OUR NEIGHBORS ARE EXPOSED TO A POTENTIAL SCAM, BUT ALSO THAT WARNINGS LIKE THIS WILL CHILL PARTICIPATION IN THE CENSUS PROCESS BECAUSE OF FEAR OF A SCAM.
SO HOW WILL YOU, YOU ADDRESS THAT YOU WANTED TO ADDRESS IT TO THE COMMUNITY, BUT HOW WILL YOU COMMUNICATE, UM, THAT WHAT, WHAT A PERSON CAN EXPECT FROM A CENSUS WORKER? SO PART OF THE P SS A MESSAGING WILL BE CENTERED AROUND AVOIDING SCANS SUCH AS THE ONE THAT YOU'VE DESCRIBED.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING CLOSELY WITH OUR MEDIA COMMUNICATION SUBCOMMITTEE TO, UH, TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE THE MESSAGES THAT WE NEED TO BE PUTTING OUT THERE.
WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH OUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS, WHO WE HAVE STARTED TO FORM RELATIONSHIPS AROUND MESSAGES THAT RELATE TO THAT SPECIFICALLY.
TO ENSURE THAT ANY MISINFORMATION THAT'S OUT THERE, WE CAN HAVE OUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS HELP US, UH, UH, TO, UH, COMMUNICATE WHAT IS ACCURATE.
DO THEY HAVE LIKE ID, UH, KIND OF, YES.
SO IN MARKET, WHEN THE ENUMERATORS GO OUT TO DO THE NON-RESPONSE FOLLOW UP, THEY WILL SELF-IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH A PROPER BUREAU BADGE, AND, UH, ANY MATERIALS THAT THEY ARE CARRYING WITH THEM WILL ALSO SELF-IDENTIFY AS THE BUREAU? YES.
AND, UM, MY NEXT QUESTION IS, I'M, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT SO MANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE WILLING TO PARTICIPATE.
DID YOU MENTION EDGEWOOD ON THAT? UH, EDGEWOOD ON THAT LIST? I DON'T KNOW IF I HEARD EDGEWOOD.
IT IS NOT ON THERE, BUT WE HAVE, UH, THROUGH OUR RURAL SUBCOMMITTEE, UH, A, A FOCUS ON THAT PARTICULAR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, AND THE PROCESS WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IS JUST GETTING UP AND ROLLING.
SO WE HOPE THAT OF THE DISTRICTS THAT ARE NOT REPRESENTED YET, THAT THEY WILL BE COMING INTO THE PICTURE.
I'D BE HAPPY TO HELP IN THAT REGARD.
I'M CURIOUS, SO WHAT CAN THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DO? CAN THEY ACTUALLY PACK THE FORM IN THE BACKPACK AND SEND IT HOME, AND THEN CAN THE TEACHERS COLLECT THEM? I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY EFFECTIVE.
SO THE ACTUAL FORM CAN ONLY MEAN MAILED BACK.
YOU MEAN THE QUESTIONNAIRE? YES.
THE, THE, THE ACTUAL CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRE CAN ONLY BE MAILED BACK TO THE BUREAU.
I GUESS THAT WOULD ELIMINATE ANY, UH, CHANGES, PRIVACY ISSUES, AND YES.
BUT THEY CAN BE PUT IN A BACKPACK SENT, UH, THE, SO THEY'LL MAKE IT INTO THE HOME? NO, AND FORTUNATELY, THE ACTUAL QUESTIONNAIRE WILL ONLY GET MAILED TO THE HOUSEHOLD.
THERE'S, UH, IN PREVIOUS CENSUS, THERE'S BEEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, ASK FOR NUMEROUS QUESTIONNAIRES AND HELP PEOPLE FILL, BUT THE BUREAU WILL ONLY BE MAILING DIRECTLY TO HOUSEHOLDS, AND HOUSEHOLDS WILL BE REQUIRED TO MAIL DIRECTLY BACK.
SO HOW CAN THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS HELP YOU? SO THEY CAN HELP BY MESSAGING TO THE
[00:50:01]
CARETAKERS AND PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF IT AND ABOUT WHEN THE CENSUS QUESTIONNAIRE COMES IN TO FILL IT OUT.SO THERE ARE NUMEROUS STRATEGIES THAT ARE BEING BUILT AROUND HOW TO MESSAGE, UH, PARTICIPATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR, UH, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, QUICK CLARIFICATION, UH, AT THE, THE EARLY SLIDES TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE HAVE AT STAKE IF WE DON'T HAVE, UH, A THOROUGH COUNT.
UM, AND IT TALKS ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF TEXAS AT THE STATE LEVEL.
UM, IS THAT HOW, ULTIMATELY, I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS A QUESTION FOR, FOR JEFF.
IS THAT ULTIMATELY HOW THE REVENUE WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED? OR ARE WE, DOES IT ACTUALLY DEPEND ON METRO AREAS AS WELL? I'M SORRY, REPHRASE.
SO BASICALLY I'M SAYING WE DO ALL THIS WORK TO COUNT OUR PEOPLE AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE FIND OUT WE HAVE 3 MILLION PEOPLE IN, IN SAN ANTONIO.
IS THAT, UM, IS THAT THE FUNDING THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH THAT INCREASE, WILL THAT GO THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE STATE? OR IS SOME OF THAT TAGGED JUST FOR OUR METRO AREA? I SEE IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE FUNDING SOURCE.
THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY A NUMBER OF STATE FUNDING SOURCES THAT ARE FORMULA DRIVEN.
SO WHENEVER WE TALK ABOUT FORMULA FUNDING, STATE OR FEDERAL, IT'S BASED ON POPULATION.
AND, AND I'LL WRAP UP, UH, SUM UP, UH, THE, UH, I G R PRESENTATION FROM MONDAY, WHICH IS THAT, UM, TEXAS IS THE ONLY STATE IN THE COUNTRY THAT HAS A POSSIBILITY OF GAINING THREE UH, SEATS IN CONGRESS.
SO YOU HAVE FIRST THE AD ADVOCACY THAT COMES FROM ADDITIONAL MEMBERS, UH, REPRESENTING THE STATE MM-HMM.
STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK, PENNSYLVANIA, OHIO ARE ALL LOOKING AT LOSSES.
UH, BUT NONE OF THAT IS A GIVEN.
IT HAS TO HAPPEN, THE COUNT HAS TO HAPPEN FOR US TO ACHIEVE THAT WITHIN THE STATE.
UM, 70 PLUS COUNTIES IN TEXAS ARE PROJECTED TO LOSE POPULATION AND ALL OF THE MAJOR METRO AREAS ARE PROJECTED TO GAIN, UH, SIGNIFICANTLY.
AGAIN, PROVIDED WE GET COUNTED.
UH, SO THOSE, THAT'S GONNA CHANGE THOSE FUNDING FORMULAS.
IT WOULD RESULT IN THE, THE VARIOUS STREAMS THAT ARE FORMULA DRIVEN IN MORE MONEY HERE.
UH, AND THAT SPANS THE, THE SPECTRUM FROM EDUCATION TO TRANSPORTATION, TO SOCIAL SERVICES, ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. ALRIGHT.
DID THAT ANSWER THE QUESTION? NO, THAT DOES.
UM, YEAH, I JUST WANTED THAT, UH, I WANTED TO BE CLEAR THAT IN IN THE END, OUR METRO AREA WILL WIN SOMETHING FROM, FROM DOING ALL THIS.
WE'RE NOT GONNA GIVE IT ALL AWAY.
UM, SOME OF US WENT TO, UH, WASHINGTON, DC UH, LAST JANUARY AND THAT BIG TRIP, AND WE WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH MEMBERS OF THE, OF THE CENSUS BUREAU.
AND THEY WERE VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE WORK THAT, UH, THAT THE COMMITTEE WAS GOING TO BE DOING AND THE CITY'S, UH, PARTICIPATION SUCH, UH, SUCH AUDIT PARTICIPATION IN THIS.
AND THEY VOLUNTEERED TO DO SOME ADDITIONAL, UH, OUTREACH WITH US, SOME PILOT PROGRAMS THAT THEY HAD.
THEY JUST NEEDED WILLING PARTNERS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
SO I WAS JUST WONDERING IF ANY PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE WITH WORKING DIRECTLY WITH THE BUREAU ON, ON THOSE.
I, I DON'T HAVE THAT RESPONSE, BUT I WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO, UH, THAT FOR YOU.
UM, SO A COUPLE OF, OF SUGGESTIONS OR WHAT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR, FOR OUR COUNCIL OFFICE, WE OF COURSE WANT TO, TO ASSIST AND PARTICIPATE IS, UH, IS THERE SOME KIND OF TOOLKIT THAT YOU MIGHT GIVE US? LIKE, THESE ARE THE THREE BEST THINGS YOU CAN DO.
HERE ARE THE MATERIALS, WHETHER IT'S ON A U S B OR PRINTED, AND THEN WE CAN TAKE IT AND, AND GO FROM THERE.
UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT HAVING VARIOUS TOUCH POINTS AND I THINK WE JUST CAN'T SEND OUT ONE EMAIL, RIGHT? CORRECT.
LIKE, WE ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE THAT MESSAGE THERE UNTIL APRIL 1ST, WHEN, WHEN THE TIME COMES TO, TO BE COUNTED.
UM, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT GOING OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, UH, MAYBE AT AN EVENT, IS THAT WHAT YOU WOULD CALL A TOUCH POINT OR WILL THERE BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ACTUALLY COMPLETE THE FORM? SO THAT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A TOUCHPOINT, AN AWARENESS TOUCHPOINT.
UH, THERE WILL ALSO BE AMONG SOME OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES A STRATEGY TO CREATE, UM, I MEAN
UM, SO DIFFERENT TOUCH POINTS DEPENDING ON THE TARGET POPULATION.
UM, I'M LOOKING AT THE, AT THE WEBSITE TO SEE WHO'S ON YOUR
[00:55:01]
STEERING COMMITTEE.AND I, I HAVEN'T FLIPPED THROUGH ALL OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES, BUT, UM, IN TERMS OF OUR MEDIA PARTNERS, ESPECIALLY FOR SPANISH LANGUAGE MEDIA, WILL THEY BE PART OF YOUR GROUP? SO, CHRISTINA ALUA FROM UNIVISION IS ONE OF OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS, AND SHE'S WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH, UH, TUESDAY NIGHT OF SAGE, WHO IS THE CO-CHAIR OF THE MEDIA COMMUNICATION SUBCOMMITTEE TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, IN LANGUAGE, UH, MESSAGING THAT WOULD BE CULTURALLY RELEVANT AND WOULD RESONATE WITH THE SPANISH SPEAKING POPULATION.
UM, SO I, I WOULD SUGGEST EXPANDING THAT.
UM, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT WHAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT IN TERMS OF RESONATING.
UM, BUT OUR LANGUAGE, UH, MEDIA STATIONS, THEY'RE, THEY OPERATE SOMEWHAT, AND I'M SAYING THIS WITH TELEMUNDO HERE, HERE IN THE ROOM, THEY OPERATE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UH, FROM OUR ENGLISH, UH, MEDIA STATIONS AS, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW.
UM, AND THEY CAN BE, UH, REALLY GREAT PARTNERS IN ACTUALLY GETTING THE WORD OUT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TWO MAJOR ONES.
AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THEY ARE BOTH, UH, AT THE TABLE AND I I CAN ALMOST GUARANTEE YOU THEY WILL BE ACTIVE, UH, MESSENGERS FOR US.
UH, AND THEN THE, THE LAST SUGGESTION I HAVE IS REALLY FOR US AS AN ORGANIZATION, UH, THE TRUTH IS WE GET A LOT OF PEOPLE COMING TO THE COUNCIL OFFICES, BUT USUALLY THAT'S WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG.
UH, I WOULD SAY WE HAVE JUST AS HARD A TIME AS GETTING A GOOD TURNOUT AT A, AT A FUN EVENT AS, AS ANY REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING, UH, THAT THE CITY HAS.
HOWEVER, OUR CITY HAS SEVERAL, UH, FUNCTIONS LIKE 3 1 1, UH, CODE COMPLIANCE, UH, MUNICIPAL COURT WHERE PEOPLE COME WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.
AND WE GET APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY CALLS TO 3 1 1, UM, IN A GIVEN WHERE'S ERIC IN A, IN A, IN A GIVEN WEEK, IT'S SOMETHING LIKE 10,000
SO HOW CAN WE USE THOSE CHANNELS TO CONTINUALLY SEND THIS MESSAGE? AND OBVIOUSLY YOU NEED TO TIME IT RIGHT.
IS IT GONNA BE THE MONTH BEFORE, TWO MONTHS BEFORE, UH, WHERE IF I'M ON HOLD CALLING 3 1 1, DON'T TELL ME ABOUT MY CART RATES.
TELL ME ABOUT, UH, DID YOU FILL OUT YOUR, YOUR CENSUS FORM? UM, AND THEN I, I THINK IT'S GREAT, IT'S GONNA BE AT THE, AT THE LIBRARIES, BUT ANY PUBLIC SPACE WE HAVE SHOULD HAVE A VERY VISIBLE DISPLAY AND FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME.
SO, UH, DOES THAT TAKE LIKE AN INTERNAL GROUP, UH, WORKING TOGETHER OR WHAT YES.
WHAT WOULD WE DO FOR, FOR THAT? AND SO WE HAVE THE, THE, THE, THE WORKING GROUP LOOKING AT DIFFERENT ASSETS WITHIN THE CITY TO ENSURE THAT IF, IF WE CAN PROMOTE A CENSUS MESSAGE THAT WE'RE DOING, THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH, WE'RE WORKING WITH 3 1 1, WE'VE PROVIDED THEM, UH, FAQS WHEN, UM, THERE WAS, THE BUREAU WAS GOING IN TO DO ADDRESS CANVASSING, WE'RE GONNA BE PROVIDING THEM ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
UH, BUT I THINK THE IDEA OF WHEN YOU'RE ON HOLD TO HEAR A CENSUS MESSAGE IS A GREAT IDEA AND WE'LL DEFINITELY TAKE THAT BACK TO, TO THEM.
BUT, UH, YES, WANT TO AND NEED TO IDENTIFY THOSE CITY ASSETS THAT WE CAN PROMOTE A CENSUS MESSAGE, UH, IMMEDIATELY.
AND THEN OVER THE TERM OF THE ENUMERATION, WHICH RUNS THROUGH JUNE OF 2020.
UM, IRONICALLY, I, THAT'S, I WAS, I'M GONNA PICK UP KIND OF WHERE YOU LEFT OFF, COUNCILMAN SANDAL.
'CAUSE I, I, IN FACT, I WAS GONNA ASK THE SAME THING ABOUT 3 1 1 SA APP, AND I JUST GOT A TEXT FROM SOMEBODY, UH, GIVING ME A LIST OF IMPROVEMENTS THEY'D LIKE TO SEE IN THE 3 1 1 SA APP,
BUT THAT'S GOOD NEWS BECAUSE IT JUST SHOWS THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY USING IT, THEY'RE ENGAGING IT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I GUESS I WOULD, I WOULD ASK THAT, UH, MAYBE THERE'S SOME THINGS WE COULD COORDINATE WITH THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO THE APP, BECAUSE I, I'D LIKE TO GET A REPORT BACK, ERIC, ON, ON, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY STARTING TO MIGRATE OVER TO THE APP ITSELF INSTEAD OF JUST CALLS.
THE FACT IS, UH, THE APP HAS MANY MORE FEATURES AND, UH, I THINK CAN, CAN REALLY HELP TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, SPREAD THE WORD, UH, ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON.
ESPECIALLY BECAUSE ONCE THEY, THEY'VE DOWNLOADED, WE CAN PUSH NOTIFICATIONS.
UM, AND I THINK PEOPLE ARE REALLY STARTING TO, UM, UTILIZE THE APP FOR, FOR A LOT OF THE CITY FUNCTIONS IN FACT, LIKE I SAID, I, I JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, GOT A TEXT MESSAGE FROM SOMEBODY WHO WAS ASKING ME HOW THEY CAN, UH, REPORT SOMETHING ON THE THREE ONE SAY, APP.
UM, SO, UH, I ALSO JUST WANNA THANK, UH, BECKY AND SELENA FOR, FOR YOUR HARD WORK.
UH, PLEASE COUNT ME IN AS, AS A PARTNER WITH YOU.
I APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR, YOUR WILLINGNESS TO, TO REALLY SPEARHEAD THIS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO GET EDUCATED ON IT.
I WANT TO, I WANT TO GET, UH, AS INFORMED AS POSSIBLE.
[01:00:01]
THAT BEING SAID, WHEN WHEN CAN WE EXPECT, UH, MATERIALS AND PRINT AND THINGS TO DISTRIBUTE TO THE PUBLIC? WHEN, WHEN CAN OUR OFFICES, ARE WE GONNA GET ANY OF THAT? SO, CURRENTLY ON OUR WEBSITE, WE HAVE ONE F F A Q.WE'RE WORKING ON TARGET ON INDIVIDUAL, UH, FAQS RELATED TO, UH, FIVE KEY TARGET POPULATIONS.
AND SO THOSE CAN BE DOWNLOADED, THAT'S IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH AND CAN BE DOWNLOADED.
NOW THERE'S A SECTION, A TOOLKIT SECTION WHERE WE ALSO HAVE OUR LOGO AVAILABLE.
IF YOU WANTED TO, UH, PUT THAT ON YOUR WEBSITE AND REDIRECT, UH, YOUR RESIDENT, YOUR CONSTITUENTS TO THE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE'S COUNT ME IN WEBSITE.
UH, SO THERE ARE, UH, THERE ARE, THERE ARE PIECES OF INFORMATION ON THERE NOW, AND WE WILL BE ADDING MORE TO THAT.
THE QUESTION ARE WE GONNA GET, OH, OKAY.
SO THE QUESTION REGARDING THE, THE LAUNCH OF THE CAMPAIGN, UH, IS IN JANUARY AND THAT'S WHEN, UH, MEDIA AND MARKETING MATERIALS WILL BE MORE READILY AVAILABLE.
SO, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WE CAN ACTUALLY USE A LOT OF THE GRAPHICS CORRECT.
AND WE CAN INCLUDE IT IN OUR NEWSLETTERS AND, NO, NO.
DON'T GET ME STEPPING IN AS HER NOT ANSWERING.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD SOMETHING 'CAUSE YOU JUST TOUCHED ON AN, UH, IMPORTANT POINT, WHICH IS WE WANT CONSISTENCY IN THE MESSAGING AND IN THE MATERIALS.
UH, FOR BRAND EQUITY PURPOSES.
AS BERT MENTIONED, WE WANT PEOPLE TO SEE THIS FIVE, SIX TIMES, UH, OR MORE.
AND SO WE WANT TO USE THE CENTRAL LOGO.
THE LOGO IS DESIGNED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE, UH, CREATIVE DEVELOPED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU.
WE DIDN'T GO IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION FROM WHAT THEIR MARKET RESEARCH, UH, INDICATED NATIONALLY.
SO YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS RIGHT, COUNCILMAN, IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US TO GIVE YOU ALL THE RESOURCES AND TOOLS YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO SPREAD THAT WORD OUT THERE.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL DO THAT AS WE GET CLOSER TO 2020.
WELL, I'LL JUST MAKE THE REQUEST NOW THAT, UH, IF YOU COULD GET WITH, I THINK EVERY OFFICE HAS THEIR OWN, UH, UH, PERSON WHO COMMUNICATIONS, HANDLES COMMUNICATIONS AND NEWSLETTERS.
AND SO, UH, IF YOU CAN COORDINATE WITH, WITH MY OFFICE AS, AS, AS WELL AS OTHER OFFICES TO, TO GIVE US THE MATERIAL AS YOU'D LIKE, LIKE FOR IT TO BE SEEN SO THAT WE CAN PUT IT OUT.
UM, AND ONE LAST QUICK QUESTION ABOUT, UH, THE HEART TO COUNT CENSUS TRACKS THAT YOU HAD UP ON THE SCREEN, UH, I GUESS IT WAS SLIDE 16.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL ALL, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT THE, THE, THE HEAVY BLUE AREAS.
UH, WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT SOME OF THESE SPOTS AND, AND WHAT, WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN TERMS OF, OF THE RESPONSE ITSELF? IS IT, DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH, UH, TRANSIENT POPULATIONS, UH, OLDER POPULATIONS, POPULATIONS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE ACCESS TO, TO CERTAIN THINGS? I THINK IT'LL HELP US KIND OF BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW WE CAN TRY TO REACH THEM AS WELL.
SO THE CENSUS BUREAU MAPPING SYSTEM IS INTERACTIVE AND WITHIN EACH OF THE DARKER COLORED BLUE SECTIONS, YOU WILL, UH, IT INDICATES THAT THE SELF RESPONSE SCORE IS, UH, 25 OR GREATER, WHICH MEANS THAT, UH, THAT THERE IS A LIKELIHOOD THAT INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THAT CENSUS TRACK ARE, ARE NOT GOING TO, TO SELF RESPOND.
NOW, I DON'T, I WANNA CLARIFY THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY WON'T BE COUNTED.
THAT MEANS THAT THE INITIAL SELF RESPONSE WILL NOT HAPPEN.
AND SO THERE'S A GREATER LIKELIHOOD FOR NOT PARTICIPATING.
SO THEN WITHIN THE CENSUS TRACK, BECAUSE IT'S, IT IS INTERACTIVE, YOU CAN GO IN AND LOOK AT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THAT CENSUS TRACK, UH, BY SOCIOECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC, UH, UH, DATA.
AND THEN SEE A PARTICULAR CENSUS TRACK IS HIGH IN SAY, INDIVIDUALS WITH LANGUAGE BARRIERS OR, UH, INDIVIDUALS THAT FALL WITHIN A, UH, THE RACIAL AND ETHNIC, UH, MINORITY POPULATIONS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING TO REACH.
UH, SO THE DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS ARE PART OF, UH, THE MAPPING TOOL THAT YOU CAN IDENTIFY ONCE YOU CLICK ONTO AN INDIVIDUAL CENSUS TRACK.
SO THEY DO DIFFER, UH, BY AREA.
AND THAT, AND THAT'S, THAT'S THE, UH, THE, UH, RESPONSE OUTREACH AREA MAPPER, IS THAT YES, CORRECT.
ROME, THE RAPID OUTREACH ADDRESS THAT WAS GIVEN IN THESE HABITS? YES, CORRECT.
I LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, TO WORKING WITH YOU ON THANK YOU.
MAKING SURE THAT WE GET AS, UH, ROBUST OF A, OF AN EFFORT AS POSSIBLE.
THERE YOU, THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN.
UM, THERE'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK ALL OF US ARE WELL AWARE OF IS THAT, UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF RENTERS, A LOT OF TENANTS, AND THAT'S A LOT OF MOBILITY.
[01:05:01]
UH, FOR YEARS AND YEARS WHEN I'VE TRIED TO GO BACK TO CERTAIN COMMUNITIES TO CONTACT PEOPLE WHO HAD LIVED THERE, THEY DON'T LIVE THERE ANYMORE, AND THEY MOVE AROUND.AND I WOULD EXPECT NOT EVERYBODY GOES TO THE POST OFFICE, SAYS, HEY, I'VE MOVED, THIS IS MY CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
UH, AND I KNOW WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT MAILING AS THE PRIMARY FIRST CONTACT.
AND THEN, UH, AND THEN ASKING PEOPLE TO SELF-REPORT THROUGH THE INTERNET.
UH, HOW ARE, WHAT ARE THE SPECIAL TOOLS WE'RE USING FOR THE MOBILE PEOPLE WHO RENT AND GO FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER ALMOST EVERY YEAR OR EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS? SO THAT'LL PRIMARILY BE A BROADCAST MESSAGING WHERE WE INFORM INDIVIDUALS OF THE WEBSITE THAT THEY COULDN'T GO ONLINE AND MAYBE USE THEIR LAPTOPS OR THEIR CELL PHONES TO SELF RESPOND BECAUSE YOU ARE CORRECT.
UH, THE, THE, THE, THE MOBILE POPULATION WILL BE HARD TO REACH WITH A MALE STRATEGY.
AND SO WE WILL BE USING MULTIPLE LAYERS OF MESSAGING, DEPENDING ON THAT AUDIENCE AND, AND HOW TO BEST COMMUNICATE TO THEM, HOW TO SELF RESPOND.
SO DEFINITELY, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING TO FOCUS ON IS PART OF THE STRATEGY TO GO TO EVERY MULTI-FAMILY BUILDING, KNOCK ON EVERY DOOR THAT YOU HAVEN'T RECEIVED SOMETHING FROM, AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO RESPOND.
SO WE'LL BE WORKING WITH, UH, COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE, UM, THAT ARE SET UP TO DO, UH, OUTREACH WITHIN COMMUNITIES AND CANVAS, IF YOU WILL, UH, DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS TO ENSURE THAT A MESSAGE IS DELIVERED ON HOW THEY CAN SELF RESPOND.
AND THAT'S STRATEGY THAT WE'RE STILL DEVELOPING.
HAVE WE, UH, BROUGHT IN THE APARTMENT ASSOCIATION AS A PARTNER IN THIS? I GOT THAT LOCAL ADDRESS UPDATE THAT YOU ALL DID REMEMBER? OH, YEAH.
UH, COUNCILMAN, WE DO HAVE A, A, A SUBCOMMITTEE WORKING ON MULTI-UNIT HOUSING STRATEGIES.
AND THE APARTMENT ASSOCIATION IS ONE OF THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT WE'RE ENGAGING WITH.
WE'RE ALSO ENGAGING WITH SAHA, WHERE THEY WILL BE HELPING US IDENTIFY HOW TO REACH THAT POPULATION.
UH, NOW IF SOMEBODY IS GOING OUT AND, AND KNOCKING ON A DOOR BECAUSE NOTHING HAD BEEN RECEIVED FROM THAT RESIDENCE, WILL THEY HAVE THE PAPERWORK NECESSARY FOR THE PERSON TO COMPLETE? WILL THEY JUST ENCOURAGE 'EM TO COMPLETE IT AND LEAVE IT THERE AND LEAVE IT TO THEM TO MAIL BACK? OR ARE THEY AUTHORIZED TO TAKE IT BACK? SO BY THE TIME THE ENUMERATORS FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU GO INTO COMMUNITY, THEY WILL BE COLLECTING THE DATA ON A, ON A COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM.
AND SO THEY WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT INFORMATION RIGHT AWAY.
UH, THERE'LL BE NO NEED TO FILL OUT A PAPER FORM AND MAIL IT BACK.
BY THE TIME ENUMERATORS GO INTO MARKET, IT WILL BE TO GATHER THE DATA QUICKLY, AND IT'LL BE ONLINE.
IT'LL BE, UH, A CENSUS BUREAU, UH, DIGITAL SYSTEM THAT THEY USE.
AND I'D JUST LIKE TO REITERATE WHAT I'VE HEARD FROM SOME OF MY FELLOW COUNCIL PEOPLE THAT I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MY OFFICE INVOLVED.
AND SO THAT MEANS REALLY EDUCATING A KEY PERSON FROM MY STAFF, AND I THINK ALL OUR COUNCIL STAFFS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ROLE WE CAN PLAY TO MAKE SURE WE'RE PARTNERS IN THIS.
COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN, ONE FOLLOW UP QUESTION.
UM, IT WAS MENTIONED ABOUT THE, THE ROLE THAT THE, UH, SCHOOLS CAN PLAY.
SO I THINK FOR CLARIFICATION, UM, ARE THE SCHOOLS, IF A FORM A CENSUS FORM IS SENT TO THEIR HOUSE, THEY NEED, THEY WANT HELP OR UNDERSTANDING TO FILL IT OUT, CAN THEY TAKE IT TO SOMEONE AT THE SCHOOL TO HELP THEM FILL IT OUT AND THEN THEY MAIL IT BACK THEMSELVES? SO THAT WILL BE PART OF THE SPECIFIC ISDS DECISION TO HAVE CAMPUSES OPEN FOR THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION.
WE ARE ENCOURAGING THAT MM-HMM.
COUNCIL MEMBER GRO, UH, I ALSO WANNA REITERATE MY THANKS TO SELENA AND BACK YOU FOR, UH, LEADING THE COMMITTEE.
IT'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT WORK AND APPRECIATE ALL THE, THAT YOU PUT INTO IT.
THANK YOU AGAIN, BERTHA, FOR YOU JUST TAPPED IN.
YES, I, I WAS, I KNOW, UM, A LITTLE SLOW TO DRAW.
I KNOW PERRY, IT JUST POPPED IN MY HEAD HERE ON THE, ON THE DATA THAT YOU'RE SHOWING HERE.
IT, THIS IS PREDICTED, UH, THIS IS ALL PREDICTIONS, RIGHT? IT'S NOT BASED ON A PAST, UH, CENSUS OR HOW, HOW WAS, HOW ARE THESE NUMBERS? SO IT'S ACTUALLY IS BASED ON THE
[01:10:01]
2010 DECENNIAL AND THIS THE MAIL RESPONSE RATES THAT THEY RECEIVED.AND SO THEY TOOK THOSE MALE RESPONSE RATES AND THEY THEN, UH, CORRELATED IT WITH THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THAT POPULATION TO IDENTIFY THE TARGETS THAT WE'RE REACHING.
BUT YES, IT IS BASED ON HISTORICAL DATA.
YEAH, THAT'S ALL I WANT TO KNOW.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH BERTHA FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, LAST QUESTION DID COME UP, UM, COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN, UM, HAD ASKED OFF, UM, ABOUT, UM, OUR COMMUNITY GATHERINGS.
ARE WE GONNA HAVE LAPTOPS OR, OR IPADS AVAILABLE FOR FOLKS TO FILL OUT THE CENSUS FORMS AT THOSE MEETINGS? IF NOT, COULD WE? SO THAT'S ONE, ACTUALLY ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAD JUST STARTED TO TALK ABOUT YESTERDAY AND THAT CARLOS HAS ASKED US TO LOOK INTO AND WHETHER THERE IS THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE LAPTOPS.
WE KNOW THAT OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HAVE PARTNERED WITH, UH, COMPANIES THAT HAVE PROVIDED FUNDING TO PURCHASE LAPTOPS.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE EXPLORING THAT AND WITHIN THE STAKEHOLDER ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE IN COMMUNITIES WHERE WE WOULD MOST LIKELY, UH, WANT TO IMPLEMENT THOSE PARTICULAR STRATEGIES.
UH, BUT DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA LOOK AT.
WELL, IT MIGHT BE AN AREA ALSO WHERE SOME OF OUR, UH, CORPORATE SUPPORTERS CAN STEP IN.
THERE'S ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF RECYCLED COMPUTERS THAT WE JUST NEED A WEB BASED FORM TO BE USED.
SO, UM, WOULD LIKE US TO DO THAT IF POSSIBLE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, THANK YOU MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS AND CITY MANAGER WALSH
WE HAVE, UH, OUR SECOND ITEM NOW, WHICH IS THE BRIEFING ON PRE-PAY FOR ESSAY.
ERIC, THANK YOU FOR THE, FOR THE PROMOTION.
SO, UM, I SHOULD HAVE STARTED WITH THIS AND I WANNA THANK DR.
BRAY FOR HOSTING US OUT HERE AT, UH, THE B SESSION TODAY.
THIS IS OUR SECOND QUARTER, UH, B SESSION ON THE ROAD.
AND, UH, IT SEEMED APPROPRIATE TO, UH, INCLUDE AN UPDATE ON PRE-CARE PRE-K FOR SA, UM, WHILE WE WERE OUT HERE.
SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR MAKING THE, UH, THE SITE AVAILABLE FOR US.
THE SECOND ITEM, UH, BEFORE YOU, UH, MARY COUNSEL IS A COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE ON PRE-K FOR SA, WHICH HAS BEEN UNDERWAY SINCE 2012.
JUST A REMINDER, PRE-K UM, OFFERS FULL DAY PRE-K TO 2004 YEAR OLDS.
AND WE HEARD SOME OF THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL THERE A LITTLE WHILE AGO.
UM, AT FOUR CENTERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UH, IT ALSO, UH, FUNDS AND COORDINATES PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROGRAMS FOR EDUCATORS THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UH, HAS A COMPETITIVE GRANT PROCESS, UH, TO INCREASE QUALITY, UH, EARLY CHILDHOOD, UH, UH, PROGRAMS, UH, TO THE, THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE EARLIER THIS YEAR, UH, PRE-K KICKED OFF A, UH, PARTNERSHIP WITH EDGEWOOD, UH, I S D ON, UH, THE GARDENDALE EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM.
UH, THAT, UH, SARAH WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROGRAM IS IN ITS SEVENTH YEAR OF OPERATION, AND THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE BUDGET AT THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER.
BRAY IS GOING TO GIVE US AN UPDATE.
UH, THERE'LL BE A LOT OF CONVERSATION ON THIS TIP ON THIS TOPIC AS WE GO INTO 2020.
CITY MANAGER, WALSH AND MAYOR AND COUNCIL, WELCOME TO PRE-K FOR SA EAST.
WE'RE DELIGHTED TO HAVE YOU HERE.
AND ON BEHALF OF THE STAFF AND THE CHILDREN AND THE FAMILIES OF PRE-K FOR SA, WELCOME, UH, THE CHILDREN KNOW THAT YOU'RE IN THE BUILDING.
THEY WERE WAITING THE, THEY HAD IT ON THEIR MESSAGE BOARDS THIS MORNING TO THAT THERE WERE IMPORTANT VISITORS COMING AND THEY WERE PREPARED IN CASE ANY OF YOU HAPPENED BY THEIR CLASSROOMS. BUT, AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO, UM, SAY A, A BIG WELCOME TO, UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHAMPIONS OF PRE-K FOUR SA, SOMEONE YOU MAY HAVE MET BEFORE.
UH, CHERYL SCULLY, FORMER CITY MANAGER WHO IS HERE TODAY.
SO, UM, SO I WANNA GIVE A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT WE HAVE SEVERAL NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, ON BOARD.
AND SO JUST TO BRING FOLKS UP TO SPEED BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT THE RESULTS AND THE, UM, GOING FORWARD INTO 2020.
SO, PRE-K FIRST A BEGAN WITH THE BRAIN POWER TASK FORCE, WHICH WAS APPOINTED BY MAYOR JULIAN CASTRO, UM, TO STUDY HOW SAN ANTONIO COULD INVEST IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EDUCATION.
AND AFTER A YEAR OF STUDY, THIS VERY SMART GROUP, UM, PROPOSED THE LAUNCH OF PRE-K FOUR S A WITH A MISSION TO DEVELOP A WORLD CLASS WORKFORCE IN ONE GENERATION THROUGH HIGH QUALITY EARLY LEARNING.
AND THE PROGRAM DESIGN INCLUDED MODEL EDUCATION CENTERS, BEST IN CLASS, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING, COMPETITIVE GRANTS, AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.
AND SINCE OUR LAUNCH, WE HAVE BEEN OFF AND RUNNING.
SO WE'VE OPENED UP CENTERS, AWARDED GRANTS, TRAINED TEACHERS.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH FAMILIES AND DEMONSTRATING OUR WORTH.
THE EIGHT YEAR REFERENDUM COMES TO, UH, A CLOSE IN 2021.
[01:15:01]
SO WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.PRE-K FOUR S A WAS DESIGNED AS A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM THAT IS BOTH HIGH TRAJECTORY AND HIGH VELOCITY.
WE AIM HIGH AND MOVE FAST, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE'RE MAKING A BIG IMPACT AND ARE ACTUALLY SEEING RESULTS BEFORE MANY OF THE EXPERTS PREDICTED.
WE WOULD SEE THEM BY THE END OF THE EIGHT YEAR REFERENDUM.
PRE-K FOUR SS A WILL HAVE SERVED OVER 12,004 YEAR OLDS IN OUR EDUCATION CENTERS.
UM, THROUGH OUR COMPETITIVE GRANTS, WE WILL HAVE AWARDED OVER $21 MILLION AND SUPPORTED 13,000 ADDITIONAL CHILDREN.
AND THROUGH OUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DIVISION, WE WILL HAVE PROVIDED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR MORE THAN 21,000 EARLY LEARNING EDUCATORS IN SAN ANTONIO, WHO IN TURN HAVE WORKED WITH OVER 400,000 YOUNG CHILDREN.
SO WHEN YOU ADD THAT ALL UP, AT THE END OF OUR EIGHT YEARS, WE WILL HAVE, UM, SUPPORTED ALL, ALMOST HALF A MILLION CHILDREN IN SAN ANTONIO.
THAT'S A HUGE IMPACT, UM, FOR A COMMUNITY IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
BUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHY, WHY SHOULD A COMMUNITY INVEST IN EARLY CHILDHOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE? WELL, THE REASON IS THAT 90% OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT OCCURS BEFORE THE AGE OF FIVE.
AND ACCORDING TO THE LATEST RESEARCH OUT OF THE CENTER FOR THE DEVELOPING CHILD AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY IN THE FIRST FEW YEARS OF LIFE, CHILDREN ARE DEVELOPING A MILLION NEURAL CONNECTIONS EVERY SECOND, A MILLION CONNECTIONS EVERY SECOND.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT NOT JUST EVERY DAY, BUT EVERY MINUTE OF A CHILD'S EARLY, UH, YOUNG CHILD'S LIFE MATTERS.
AND THE NEURAL CONNECTIONS THAT WE DEVELOP AS YOUNG CHILDREN FORM THE ARCHITECTURE OF OUR BRAIN THAT STAYS WITH US FOR THE REST OF OUR LIFE.
AND IT IS THIS ARCHITECTURE THAT ALLOWS US TO LEARN AT HIGH LEVELS AND SOLVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT OUR LIFE.
SO THAT'S WHAT EARLY LEARNING IS REALLY ABOUT.
IT'S ABOUT BUILDING STRONG BRAINS AND HOW WE SUPPORT THE BRAIN DEVELOPMENT OF OUR YOUNG CHILDREN HAS HUGE IMPLICATIONS, NOT JUST FOR THE CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES, BUT FOR OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
SO IT'S NOT ONLY EDUCATORS AND, AND NEUROSCIENTISTS WHO ARE LOOKING AT EARLY LEARNING, ECONOMISTS ARE LOOKING EARLY LEARNING.
JAMES HECKMAN, WHO'S A NOBLE LAUREATE ECONOMIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, HAS CONDUCTED STUDIES WITH OTHER ECONOMISTS, DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS, SOCIOLOGISTS, STATISTICIANS, AND NEUROSCIENTISTS TO SHOW THAT HIGH QUALITY EARLY LEARNING HAS HUGE INFLUENCE ON, UH, HEALTH, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL OUTCOMES FOR INDIVIDUALS, BUT ALSO FOR SOCIETY AT LARGE.
HECKMAN HAS DEVELOPED WHAT HE CALLS A HECKMAN EQUATION TO DEMONSTRATE THAT INVESTING IN HIGH QUALITY EARLY LEARNING IS NOT ONLY THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO CHANGE THE EDUCATION SYSTEM AND THE WORKFORCE, BUT ALSO IS THE MOST COST EFFICIENT WAY TO DO THAT.
AND SO HECKMAN'S MODEL SHOWS THAT INVESTING IN IN BIRTH THROUGH THREE AND FOUR THROUGH FIVE REALLY PAY OFF BIG DIVIDENDS, MUCH MORE SO THAN WAITING UNTIL YOU GET INTO THE UPPER GRADES.
AND EVEN IN POST-SECONDARY, DR.
HECKMAN CALCULATES THAT FOR EVERY DOLLAR INVESTED, YOU GET A SEVEN TO 10% RETURN ON THAT INVESTMENT, UM, TO THE COMMUNITY.
THAT RETURN ON INVESTMENT COMES PRIMARILY FROM FOUR COMPONENTS, HIGHER EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, INCREASED INCOME LEVELS, BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES, AND A MORE CAPABLE AND PRODUCTIVE WORKFORCE.
BUT THE CAVEAT IS IT HAS TO BE QUALITY.
MEDIOCRE PRE-K CHANGES NOTHING.
IN ORDER TO GET THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS YOU MUST HAVE THE QUALITY INDICATORS, WHICH IS WHY PRE-K FOUR S A IS RELENTLESS ABOUT QUALITY AND INFUSING QUALITY ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
SOME PEOPLE WILL SAY THAT DEFINING QUALITY IN PRESCHOOL IS DIFFICULT AND THAT THERE AREN'T ANY STANDARDS, AND THAT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE.
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EARLY EDUCATION RESEARCH AT RUTGERS UNIVERSITY HAS SET STANDARDS BY WHICH PRESCHOOLS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE EVALUATED EVERY YEAR.
AND ALTHOUGH TEXAS ONLY MEETS FOUR OF THOSE STANDARDS EVEN AFTER HB THREE, I'M PLEASED TO REPORT THAT PRE-K FOR SA MEETS ALL 15.
AND WE ARE HELPING OTHER PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY TO MEET THOSE STANDARDS AS WELL.
AS WELL, IF I KNOW YOU READ OUR, UM, QUARTERLY REPORTS FROM FRONT TO BACK EACH QUARTER, AND WE HAVE THESE NEAR STANDARDS IN THERE, AND, AND THIS IS PART OF OUR REPORT, HOW WE'RE MOVING THE NEEDLE ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
AND I WANNA MAKE SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE FIRST TWO INDICATORS, WHICH ARE CATEGORIZED UNDER ENABLING ENVIRONMENT.
AND THOSE CA THOSE INDICATORS HAVE TO DO WITH POLITICAL WILL AND LEADERSHIP.
IN ORDER FOR COMMUNITIES TO DELIVER ON HIGH QUALITY EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS, YOU MUST HAVE THE POLITICAL WILL AND YOU MUST HAVE THE LEAD LEADERSHIP AND VISION TO GET THAT DONE.
AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT SAN ANTONIO IS THE ENVY OF THE NATION IN THIS REGARD.
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW HOW DO WE GET OUR POLICY MAKERS AND OUR COMMUNITY BEHIND US ON THIS, BECAUSE THIS IS THE HARD PART, BUT SAN
[01:20:01]
ANTONIO, THANKS TO FOLKS LIKE YOU, HAS THIS RIGHT.AND SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS WITHIN A COMPLEX LANDSCAPE, UM, OF EARLY LEARNING, MOVE THAT NEEDLE.
AND WHAT THE EARLY LEARNING ECOSYSTEM LOOKS LIKE IN SAN ANTONIO, MUCH LIKE IT DOES IN OTHER PLACES, IS A COMPLEX DELIVERY SYSTEM.
SO WE HAVE A, WE HAVE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROVIDERS, LICENSED AND UNLICENSED FOR-PROFIT, NON-PROFIT, LARGE AND SMALL CENTERS, AND IN-HOME PROVIDERS, WE ALSO HAVE A PK 12 SYSTEM THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THIS.
AND SIMILARLY, THERE'S A MIX OF PRIVATE, PAROCHIAL AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS. THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM, THE, THE THAT WORKS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN, BIRTH THROUGH FIVE TYPICALLY DOES NOT INTERACT OR COORDINATE SERVICES WITH THE PK 12 SYSTEM, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SERVING SOME OF THE SAME FAMILIES.
SO WITHIN THIS ECOSYSTEM, PRE-K FOUR SS A PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE.
WE ARE A HUB THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THAT EARLY LEARNING SYSTEM WITH THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS AND THE PK 12 SYSTEM TO INCREASE THE QUALITY, HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT QUALITY IS, HOW DO YOU GET IT, WHAT MATTERS MOST.
AND ALSO TO HELP FAMILIES UNDERSTAND THIS, FAMILIES DO NOT NECESSARILY KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN QUALITY SYSTEMS AND QUALITY CARE.
SO WE HELP THEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS AND HOW THEY CAN ACCESS THE HIGHEST QUALITY CENTERS FOR THEIR YOUNG CHILDREN TO HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
UH, HEAD START IS HERE AND WE OFTEN GET ASKED, WELL, HOW ARE YOU DIFFERENT THAN HEAD START? AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT HEAD START IS A VERY CRUCIAL PROGRAM.
HEAD START SERVES SOME OF THE MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WITHIN THE EARLY LEARNING ECOSYSTEM.
BUT HEADSTART DOES NOT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE.
HEADSTART BUILDS ON ALREADY EXISTING PROGRAMS IN THE SENSE THAT THE CHILDREN WHO ARE ELIGIBLE FOR HEADSTART ARE ALSO ELIGIBLE FOR STATE FUNDED.
PRE-K HEADSTART CONTRI ADDS TO THAT STATE FUNDED PRE-K TO SERVE THE MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN, A VERY TARGETED NARROW GROUP OF CHILDREN WHO NEED INTENSIVE INTERVENTIONS, NOT JUST AT FOR THE CHILD, BUT FOR THE FAMILY AS WELL TO TRY TO LIFT THE FAMILY OUT OF POVERTY.
SO IT'S A VERY UNIQUE, IMPORTANT PROGRAM THAT SERVES A VERY NARROW SET OF, OF FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN OUR COMMUNITY.
PRE-K FIRST S A TAKES A MUCH MORE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH IN TERMS OF, FIRST OF ALL, LEADING WITH QUALITY.
MANY CITIES ACROSS, UM, THE NATION HAVE EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS, BUT SAN ANTONIO DID SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THOSE PROGRAMS. MOST OF THOSE PROGRAMS STARTED WITH ACCESS.
THEY SAID WE WOULD, WE WANNA GET YOUNG CHILDREN INTO PRE-K PROGRAMS. SAN ANTONIO SAID WE WANNA BUILD THE VERY BEST PRE-K PROGRAMS AND THEN EXPAND ACCESS.
AND I WILL TELL YOU THAT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE LEADING WITH QUALITY.
UM, BECAUSE GOING BACK TO HECKMAN'S WORK, IF IT ISN'T QUALITY, IT DOESN'T MATTER.
UM, WE ALSO TAKE A CITYWIDE APPROACH AND WE WORK BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS OF OUR CENTERS.
OUR CENTERS ARE OBVIOUSLY OUR HIGHEST PROFILE, THAT'S WHAT MOST PEOPLE KNOW, BUT REALLY OUR WORK EXTENDS FAR OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE PARTNER WITH OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ENSURE THAT THAT HIGH QUALITY PROGRAMMING DOESN'T STOP AFTER PRE-K.
IT GOES ALL THE WAY UP TO THIRD GRADE.
SO IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THIS COMPLEX SYSTEM, WE MAKE STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS ACROSS THE SPECTRUM.
WE INVEST IN BOTH OUR ISDS AND PRIVATE AND PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS AND WITHIN THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM.
AND WE DO SO NOT JUST IN DOLLARS, BUT IN PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND IN SUPPORTS.
AND SO WE LOOK AT THIS IN, BY THE END OF THE EIGHT YEAR REFERENDUM, WE WILL HAVE INVESTED OVER $17 MILLION IN OUR ISDS TO HELP THEM, UM, IMPROVE THEIR PROGRAMS, MAKE SURE THEY'RE MEETING THOSE QUALITY STANDARDS, AND ALSO GO FROM HALF DAY TO FULL DAY UNTIL, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HB THREE.
BUT UP UNTIL THIS YEAR, SCHOOLS DID NOT REALLY HAVE THE FUNDS TO DO FULL DAY.
AND SO WE PROVIDED A LOT OF SUPPORT AROUND THAT.
UM, THESE INVESTMENTS THAT WE MAKE ARE TIED TO ENSURING THAT WE INCREASE THE QUALITY ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
AND SOME FOLKS WILL SAY, YEAH, SURE, THAT'S ALL GREAT.
UH, PRE-K FOUR A IS A HIGH QUALITY SYSTEM, BUT IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE.
AND SO THIS COULD CRITIQUE OFTEN ARISES BECAUSE PEOPLE TAKE OUR BUDGET AND THEY SAY, OH, YOU EDUCATE 2000 CHILDREN.
SO THEY TAKE OUR OVERALL BUDGET DIVIDED BY 2000 AND COME UP WITH SOME ASTRONOMICAL COST PER CHILD.
BUT WHEN YOU REALLY LOOK APPLES TO APPLES AT WHAT WE DO IN OUR EDUCATION CENTERS BECAUSE WE DO FAR MORE THAN OUR EDUCATION CENTERS, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK WITHIN THAT, YOU WILL SEE THAT PRE-K FOUR S A ACTUALLY DELIVERS AN EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH QUALITY PROGRAM AT A VERY EFFICIENT COST IN, UM, IN FACT OUR PER HOUR COST IS AMONG THE LOWEST 'CAUSE WE OPERATE A 10 HOUR PROGRAM.
MOST PROGRAMS ARE ONLY SEVEN HOURS.
AND I WILL TELL YOU EVEN WITHIN THAT, WE, OUR ANNUAL COSTS, UM, DO NOT EXCEED MANY OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY PROGRAMS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UM, IN THE CITY.
[01:25:01]
HIGH QUALITY AT A VERY EFFICIENT RATE.ALRIGHT, LET'S TALK ABOUT ITS RESULTS.
THIS IS REALLY THE IMPORTANT PIECE 'CAUSE PEOPLE WANNA KNOW WHAT ARE WE GETTING FOR THIS BY DESIGN.
PRE-K FOUR S A IS EVALUATED EACH YEAR BY AN EXTERNAL RESEARCH TEAM.
AND THIS EXTERNAL RESEARCH TEAM REALLY LOOKS AT THE METRICS BOTH INTERNALLY IN TERMS OF OUR PROGRAM AND THEN LONG-TERM WHAT'S HAPPENING AFTER CHILDREN LEAVE US.
THIS ANNUAL, UM, EVALUATION DEMONSTRATES THAT CHILDREN COME INTO PRE-K FOUR SS A BELOW THE NATIONAL NORM IN SEVERAL KEY INDICATORS, AND THEY LEAVE US WELL ABOVE THE NATIONAL NORM.
THE EVALUATION ALSO SHOWS THAT THE QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION IN PRE-K FOUR SA CLASSROOMS EXCEEDS THE RESEARCH THRESHOLD.
AND THE RESEARCH THRESHOLD IS THE POINT AT WHICH YOU CAN EXPECT CHILDREN TO HAVE LONG-TERM ACADEMIC BENEFITS FROM HAVING BEEN IN THE CLASSROOMS WITH TEACHERS WHO PROVIDE THAT LEVEL OF QUALITY INSTRUCTION.
WE RECENTLY ALSO RECEIVED, UM, UH, THE EVALUATION OF OUR, FROM OUR FAMILY SURVEY.
THE EXTERNAL, UM, EVALUATORS ALSO SURVEYED OUR FAMILIES TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY THINK.
AND WHILE OUR FAMILIES HAVE HIGH PRAISE FOR THE THE PROGRAM, MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE RESULTS SHOW THAT PRE, AFTER GOING THROUGH OUR PROGRAM, FAMILIES ARE MUCH MORE CONFIDENT IN THEIR ABILITY TO SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION AND ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE WITH THEIR CHILDREN TO SUPPORT ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT HEALTHY HABITS AND BUILD STRONG RELATIONSHIPS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR.
NOT JUST DO THE FAMILIES LIKE OUR PROGRAM, BUT DOES BEING IN THE PROGRAM HELP THE FAMILIES TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS THAT WILL HELP THEM TO SUPPORT THEIR CHILDREN THROUGHOUT THEIR EDUCATIONAL CAREERS.
IN THE SPRING, WE ALSO RECEIVED OUR FIRST LONG-TERM IMPACT STUDY, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED BY THE URBAN ED EDUCATION INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO.
AND WHAT THIS STUDY SHOWED WAS THAT PRE-K FOUR S A HAS CREATED A SURGE OF AWARENESS IN OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT THE VALUE OF EARLY LEARNING AND CREATED ENROLLMENT, UM, EXPANDED ENROLLMENT IN PRE-K WHERE OTHER URBAN AREAS WERE SEEING DECLINES, SAN ANTONIO SAW INCREASES.
THE STUDY ALSO SAID, UM, THAT THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE PRE-K FOR SA PROGRAM EXTEND BEYOND THE CHILDREN WHO ATTEND OUR CENTERS.
SO CHILDREN WHO ARE IN CLASSROOMS WITH CHILDREN WHO BEEN, WHO WENT TO PRE-K FOR SA, ARE ALSO SHOWING BENEFITS JUST FROM HAVING BEEN IN THE CLASSROOM WITH CHILDREN WHO HAD ACCESS TO THE PROGRAM IN TERMS OF FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CHILDREN AND THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE.
THE LONG-TERM IMPACT STUDY SHOWED THAT CHILDREN WHO HAD ATTENDED PRE-K FOR SA HAD BETTER THIRD GRADE MATH SCORES, BETTER THIRD GRADE READING SCORES AND HAD BETTER ATTENDANCE THAN THEIR PEERS WHO DO NOT ATTEND PRE-K FOR SA.
WE'VE ALSO WON A BUNCH OF AWARDS.
UM, WE ARE RECOGNIZED, UM, FAIRLY FREQUENTLY, BUT THESE AWARDS ARE NOT JUST FOR PRE-K FOUR SS A THEY'RE FOR SAN ANTONIO.
WE ARE HELPING TO, UM, SAN ANTONIO TO REACH THESE MILESTONES AROUND CITY HEALTH AND THROUGH, UM, ALL AMERICAN CITY AWARDS IN TERMS OF EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
SO SAN ANTONIO AND PRE-K FOUR S A HELPS SAN ANTONIO GET NOTICED.
AND PART OF THAT IS THROUGH OUR, UM, CONTACTS WITH MEDIA WHO ARE FREQUENTLY, UM, REQUESTING STORIES AND COMING TO FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND THROUGH THIS, WE'RE REALLY DRIVING A NATIONAL DIALOGUE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY LEARNING.
WE'RE ALSO SHAPING THE FUTURE BY WORKING WITH OTHER CITIES.
THIS MAP IS A MAP OF OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE EITHER VISITED US OR THAT WE HAVE PROVIDED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE OR, OR SUPPORT TO, TO HELP GUIDE THEM IN THEIR WORK AS EARLY LEARNING CITIES SO THAT WE CAN BECOME AN EARLY LEARNING NATION.
AND WITH ALL OF THAT, SUPER EXCITING, BUT THERE'S STILL WORK TO DO.
BUT UM, RECENTLY IN THE, IN THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION WE HAD, UM, THE PASSAGE OF HB THREE, WHICH WAS A HUGE WIN HOUSE BILL THREE, UM, INFUSED, UH, ADDITIONAL FUNDS INTO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FULL DAY PRE-K AND SAN ANTONIO.
AND THE SUCCESS, SUCCESS OF PRE-K FOR SA WAS A HUGE FACTOR IN THAT.
UM, WE WERE POINTED TO AS EVIDENCE OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHILDREN HAVE ACCESS TO FULL DAY PRE-K.
AND WHILE HB THREE WAS A BIG WIN, IT ONLY GETS US PART OF THE WAY THERE BECAUSE HB THREE INCREASES THE DAY FROM HALF DAY TO FULL DAY.
BUT IT DOES NOT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO ARE ACTUALLY ELIGIBLE TO ATTEND STATE FUNDED PRE-K.
THOSE FACTORS DID NOT CHANGE BEFORE HB THREE.
WE HAD 14,504 YEAR OLDS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE.
AND AFTER HB THREE, WE HAVE 14,504 YEAR OLDS WHO ARE ELIGIBLE.
THEY JUST NOW CAN GO TO A FULL DAY PROGRAM.
HB THREE ALSO DOES NOT FUND THE QUALITY STANDARDS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO GET THE LONG TERM BE BENEFIT.
MOREOVER, HB THREE DOESN'T EVEN REQUIRE THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS GO TO FULL DAY PRE-K RIGHT AWAY.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE UP TO SIX YEARS TO SCALE
[01:30:01]
UP THEIR PROGRAMS. IF THEY HAVE CAPACITY ISSUES, THEY DON'T HAVE THE ROOM TO SERVE ALL THEIR CHILDREN.AND WE DO, IN FACT IN SAN ANTONIO, HAVE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT DO NOT HAVE ROOM TO SERVE ALL THE ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.
AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN OR IF THEY WILL HAVE THE ROOM TO SERVE ALL OF THEIR ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.
BUT EVEN IF ALL THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS SERVE EVERY FOUR YEAR OLD THAT IS ELIGIBLE, 40% OF OUR FOUR YEAR OLDS IN SAN ANTONIO STILL WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ATTEND PUBLIC PRE-K, UM, THAT'S FUNDED THROUGH THE STATE BECAUSE THEY DON'T QUALIFY BASED ON ONE OF THOSE FACTORS.
AND OF THOSE CHILDREN WHO DO NOT QUALIFY, UM, THAT'S, IT'S ABOUT 10,500 OF OUR FAMILIES EACH YEAR DON'T QUALIFY FOR STATE PRE-K.
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 3000 AND 5,000 OF THOSE FAMILIES CANNOT AFFORD PRIVATE OR HIGH QUALITY PRE-K IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
SO THIS IS THE GAP THAT PRE-K FOUR S A IS LOOKING TO FILL.
SO AS MORE OF OUR DISTRICTS TAKE ON FULL DAY PRE-K FOR THOSE ELIGIBLE CHILDREN, THIS ALLOWS US TO SERVE MORE OF THE CHILDREN WHO FALL IN THE GAP BECAUSE THEIR FAMILIES CANNOT AFFORD HIGH QUALITY PRIVATE PRE-K.
WE ALREADY CAN SERVE SOME OF THOSE BY DESIGN.
WE'VE 20 TO 25% OF OUR SLOTS HAVE BEEN RESERVED FOR THIS GROUP OF FAMILIES.
BUT WITH, WITH THE DISTRICTS EXPANDING THEIR CAPACITY, WE WILL BE ABLE TO SERVE MORE OF THESE CHILDREN.
ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE'RE DOING THAT IS BY OPENING UP REPLICATION SITES.
AS AS CITY MANAGER WALSH MENTIONED, WE OPENED OUR FIRST REPLICATION SITE AT GARDENDALE.
THIS, THIS FALL WITH PRE-K AND K CLASSROOMS. THERE IT WILL GO ALL THE WAY UP TO SECOND GRADE.
AND THIS WAY WE'LL BE ABLE TO CR CREATE MORE HIGH QUALITY PRE-K SEATS, BUT ALSO CREATE A HIGH QUALITY EXPERIENCE ALL THE WAY UP TO THROUGH SECOND GRADE SO THAT THE CHILDREN HAVE THE STRONGEST START TO THEIR EDUCATIONAL CAREERS.
WE'RE ALSO SUPPORTING, UH, EARLY MATTERS.
YOU MAY HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE LAUNCH OF EARLY MATTERS, WHICH IS BEING HEADED BY JOE STRAUS AND PETER JOHN HOLT.
UM, AND THIS GROUP IS LOOKING AT WHAT'S HAPPENING EVEN BEFORE THE AGE OF FOUR.
AND THIS WORK IS CRITICAL BECAUSE 89% OF THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS IN BEXAR COUNTY ARE NOT RATED FOR QUALITY.
WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT KIND OF CARE OUR YOUNGEST CHILDREN ARE GETTING.
SO EARLY MATTERS IS LOOKING AT THIS ISSUE AND GOING TO BE COMING UP WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT WHAT IS A COMMUNITY MEET WE COULD DO.
AND PRE-K FOUR S A IS PROVIDING SUPPORT ON THAT.
ALRIGHT, SO LOOKING FORWARD, FINALLY, UM, AS WE COME TO THE END OF OUR EIGHT YEAR AUTHORIZATION IN 2021, UM, WE ARE LOOKING TO, UM, CONSIDER REAUTHORIZATION AND WHAT THAT MEANS.
SO PRE-K FOUR S A IS, UM, AUTHORIZED THROUGH THE BETTER JOBS ACT, WHICH ALLOWS CITIES TO UTILIZE SALES TAX FUNDING TO INITIATE CERTAIN TYPES OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES, INCLUDING EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS THAT HELP CHILDREN DEVELOP LITERACY SCHOOL.
SO THAT'S ACTUAL STATUTE UP THERE IF YOU CARE TO CARE TO READ THAT.
BUT, UM, THE VOTE IN NOVEMBER, 2012 AUTHORIZED THE CITY TO COLLECT SALES TAX TO OPERATE PRE-K FOR SA FOR EIGHT YEARS.
THAT AUTHORIZATION ENDS IN 2021, SPECIFICALLY THE SALES TAX COLLECTION WILL END AT THE END OF, UM, MARCH 31ST, UH, 2021 Q THREE.
UM, THE PROGRAM THEN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE 2021 SCHOOL YEAR, WHICH WOULD BE SOMEWHERE IN JUNE.
SO IN ORDER TO CONTINUE BEYOND THAT, PRE-K FOUR S A WILL HAVE TO BE REAUTHORIZED.
AND THE WAY THAT HAPPENS IS CITY COUNCIL, UM, VOTES TO PLACE THE ITEM ON THE BALLOT IN EITHER A MAY OR NOVEMBER ELECTION IN 2020 IN ORDER FOR US TO CONTINUE ON BEYOND THE, UM, END OF THE FIRST YEAR OR THE FIRST EIGHT YEAR REFERENDUM.
ALL RIGHT, THAT'S MY QUICK VERSION OF ALL THAT IS PRE-K FOR SA.
I STAYED ON SCRIPT, SO I WOULD NOT GO TOO FAR OFF.
UM, AND FOR ALSO GIVING US A, A MODEL WAY WE CAN GET THROUGH 36 SLIDES IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER.
HOPE FOLKS WERE TAKING NOTES OF THAT.
AND, AND I GUESS IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE IRONIC THAT THE NEWS OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS HAS BEEN DOMINATED ABOUT, UH, DOMINATED BY A, UM, SECRET RECORDING AND A BREAKDOWN OF CITY STATE RELATIONSHIPS.
BUT HERE WE ARE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS WITH HB THREE HAVING BEEN PASSED, AND THE OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO NOT ONLY LEAD WITH QUALITY PRE-K WITH THE PROGRAM PRE-K FOR SA BUT ALSO IN A CONTEXT THAT, UH, FINALLY THE STATE IS TAKING OWNERSHIP OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND PROVIDING FULL DAY PRE-K UH, THROUGHOUT OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
AND I KNOW THAT A NUMBER OF THE LARGER SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE BEGINNING WORK ON THAT VERY THING.
THEY MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE DETAILS FIGURED OUT, BUT THEY UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF IT DEMONSTRATED BY PRE-K FOR SA.
UM, SO ON ON THAT NOTE, I KNOW THAT
[01:35:01]
HB THREE SORT OF IS, IS, UH, A LITTLE FUZZY RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF HOW, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS ARE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH IT.BUT COULD YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE ON YOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM? SURE.
SO MOST OF OUR DISTRICTS HAD ALREADY BEEN FUNDING FULL DAY PRE-K THROUGH A COMBINATION OF, OF TITLE FUNDS AND, AND OTHER RESOURCES.
SO THEY ARE NOW ABLE TO USE THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO, UM, DO THOSE QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS.
'CAUSE AGAIN, 'CAUSE OUR, OUR, OUR, THE STATE DOES NOT FUND THE ACTUAL QUALITY.
UM, LIKE WE DON'T ACT, WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A LIMIT TO THE NUMBER OF, OF CHILDREN THAT CAN BE IN A PRE-K CLASSROOM.
SO, UM, SOME OF THE DISTRICTS ARE USING THE ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO PUT THE SECOND TEACHER IN THE CLASSROOM AND DO THAT.
OUR, UH, LARGEST DISTRICT, NORTHSIDE IS RAMPING UP TO DO FULL DAY, BUT THEY HAVE, THEY WERE AT HALF DAY, UM, THEY ACTUALLY HAD, THEIR BOARD HAD ACTUALLY VOTED TO GO TO FULL DAY EVEN BEFORE HB THREE WAS, UM, APPROVED.
SO THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS THE WAY TO GO, UM, AND ARE MAKING PLANS FOR THAT.
AND, AND THEY'RE A DISTRICT THAT HAS SOME CAPACITY ISSUES IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO SERVE ALL OF THE ELIGIBLE FOUR YEAR OLDS.
NORTHEAST, SIMILARLY HAD HALF DAY, BUT WAS ALREADY RAMPING UP.
AND I, I WANNA ACTUALLY GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO NORTHEAST IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY'VE DONE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
THEY HAVE REALLY STRATEGICALLY USED THE GRANT FUNDS THAT PRE-K FOUR S A PROVIDED TO THEM TO BEGIN TO RAMP UP.
SO IN THE FIRST, UM, GRANT AWARD THAT WE GAVE THEM, WE HELPED TO FUND SOME FULL DAY CLASSROOMS GOING FROM HALF DAY TO FULL DAYS.
THE NEXT GRANT CYCLE, THE DISTRICT PICKED UP THE COST OF THAT AND CREATED MORE CLASSROOMS THAT WERE GOING FROM HALF DAY TO FULL DAY.
AND THEN THEY WERE GEARING UP ALREADY TO OPEN UP THE, THE PRE-K WEST ACADEMY, WHICH THEY DID THIS FALL.
SO, UM, AND THEN JUDSON IS ALSO ONE THAT WAS HALF DAY AND IS MOVING TOWARDS FULL DAY, BUT IS NOT THERE YET.
UM, BUT THAT GIVES US MORE OF AN IMPETUS TO DO WHAT WE CAN.
AND I I DO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE, UM, OUR FORMER COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, REPRESENTATIVE DIEGO BERNAL YEAH.
WERE ALL OVER HB THREE AND PERHAPS THE REASON WHY PRE-K WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THAT PARTICULAR LEGISLATION.
UH, AND ALSO WE'RE, WE'RE GLAD TO SEE CHERYL HERE.
UM, YOU'RE SMILING AN AWFUL LOT THESE DAYS, CHERYL
UM, BUT PERHAPS WE ARE IN, UH, ONE OF THE HOUSES YOU BUILT.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE LEGACY YOU'VE LEFT THIS CITY AND, AND, UH, UH, ACKNOWLEDGING THE FACT THAT WE STILL RECEIVE DELEGATIONS FROM OUTSIDE OF SAN ANTONIO, OTHER CITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY STUDYING WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND SO KNOWING THAT IN 2012 THIS WAS SOMEWHAT OF A DIVISIVE ISSUE MM-HMM.
NOW HAVING TALKED TO NEIGHBORS PERHAPS WHO WERE ON THE FENCE FENCE BEFORE, SEEING THE OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR THE PROGRAM AND THE ABILITY TO SAY TO FOLKS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE EXPANDING ELIGIBILITY TO MIDDLE INCOME BRACKETS WHO MAYBE WEREN'T ELIGIBLE BEFORE.
I THINK THIS IS A, A WONDERFUL MOMENT FOR US TO SHOW SAN ANTONIO QUIETLY, ONCE AGAIN BEING A LEADER.
AND A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE WORK OF, OF YOU, UH, DR.
BERE, YOUR STAFF, THE TEACHERS AND, AND PARENTS.
YOU'RE PART OF THE PROGRAM, BUT ALSO YOU'RE, YOU'RE A VERY CAPABLE BOARD.
SO OBVIOUSLY I'M VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE PROGRAM, LOOK FORWARD TO THE COUNCIL DELIBERATION ON SETTING THE ELECTION AND, UM, MOVING FORWARD TO SEEING THE COHORT COME IN THAT WE CAN FINALLY ALSO BE ABLE TO TRACK THE ORIGINAL COHORT ALL THE WAY THROUGH, UH, HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION AND INTO THEIR CAREER CHOICES.
SO, UH, VERY EXCITING TIME INDEED FOR SAN ANTONIO.
AS A FORMER PRE-K FOUR TEACHER, UM, I AM AWARE OF HOW FAST THE TIME GOES AND WHAT ALL, UH, OUR FOUR YEAR OLDS REALLY, TRULY, UM, CAN ADAPT AND LEARN WHEN THEY ARE IN A SETTING THAT OFFERS QUALITY, UM, OVER EXACTLY QUANTITY OF HOW MANY YOU CAN FIT.
AND SO I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE THAT THIS IS IN OUR DISTRICT AS WELL, BECAUSE FOR A LONG TIME OF A LOT OF THE CHILDREN THAT ARE HERE THAT ARE WITHIN THE BIRTH TO FOUR YEAR OLD AGE BRACKET DON'T GET THE DEVELOPMENT THAT THEY NEED TO SUCCEED IN AREAS.
AND SO WE THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE WORK THAT YOU AND, AND THE BOARD AND THE STAFF ARE DOING HERE THROUGH PRE-K FOR SA.
UM, ARE THERE ANY FUTURE PLANS FOR MAYBE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS FOR PRE-K FOR SA? AND IF SO, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? SO, PRE-K FOR SA OPERATES UNTIL SIX O'CLOCK EACH EVENING.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY AN EXTENDED DAY PROGRAM.
SO WE OPEN UP THE, THE DOORS AT SEVEN 15
[01:40:01]
AND WE'RE, UM, OPEN UNTIL SIX IN THE EVENING.THE THREE TO SIX SLOT IS FOR, UH, FAMILIES WHO ARE WORKING FULL-TIME OR GOING TO SCHOOL FULL-TIME AS PART OF THEIR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
BUT ALSO TO YOUR POINT, OUR GRANTS PROGRAM FUND, UM, AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM, EXTENDED DAY PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN ACROSS THE CITY IN TERMS OF IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT, PARTNERS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND SOME OF OUR, UM, OTHER PROGRAMS SO THAT ALL FAMILIES HAVE THAT OPTION BECAUSE, UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENTS TO ENROLLING CHILDREN IN EARLY LEARNING, WHICH I'M SURE YOU KNOW, IS THAT IF THE SCHOOL DAY ENDS AT THREE, FAMILIES CAN'T JUST LEAVE THEIR THEIR JOB TO COME PICK THEIR CHILDREN UP.
SO THEY'LL CHOOSE NOT TO ENROLL THEIR CHILDREN AND LEAVE THEM WITH SOMEONE, UM, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OR A FRIEND OR FAMILY, BECAUSE THEN THAT WAY THEY DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT PICKUP.
SO THE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT.
THANK YOU FOR ASKING ABOUT THAT.
I DIDN'T SEE IT IN THE PRESENTATION,
I DIDN'T MENTION IT, SO I APPRECIATE THAT YOU ASKED THAT.
AND SO THE NEXT QUESTION I HAVE IS, I, I KNOW THAT YOU'RE LOOKING TO GO BACK ON THE BALLOT AND ONCE APPROVED AGAIN, ARE YOU LOOKING TO OPEN UP ADDITIONAL CAMPUSES? AND IF SO, WHAT AREAS OR HAS THAT BEEN LOOKED AT AS OF YET? SO THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT THE BOARD IS ACTUALLY CONSIDERING RIGHT NOW.
UM, WHAT, UM, WHAT THE, AND WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THERE WITH THE BOARD IS, IS LOOKING AT IS HOW DO WE FILL THAT GAP WITH THE FAMILIES THAT CAN'T AFFORD HIGH QUALITY PRE-K? AND WHETHER THAT LOOKS LIKE, I, I DON'T THINK THAT IT NECESSARILY WOULD BE OPENING UP MORE CENTERS.
IT LIKELY WOULD BE LIKE WHAT WE'RE DOING AT GARDENDALE, CREATING MORE CAPACITY WITHIN EXISTING PROGRAMS BECAUSE SAN ANTONIO HAS QUITE A FEW, UM, PROGRAMS THAT WE COULD BUILD ON AND CREATE EVEN HIGHER QUALITY AND MORE CAPACITY WITHIN THOSE.
BUT THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF DECISIONS THAT THE, THAT OUR BOARD IS DISCUSSING.
AND I'M SURE WE'LL BRING TO COUNCIL AS, UM, A RECOMMENDATION FOR WHAT TO CONSIDER FOR THAT BALLOT BALLOT PROPOSITION.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS WITH SOME OF THE, THE PREVIOUS SCHOOLS THAT HAVE ACTUALLY CLOSED AND THE BUILDINGS ARE JUST KIND OF VACANT AND JUST SITTING THERE, UM, HAS PRE-K FOR US, THEY LOOKED AT MAYBE GETTING SOME OF THOSE OLDER BUILDINGS AND, AND USING THEM WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE LOST THEIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OR THEIR, THEIR COMMUNITY BASED EDUCATION.
I MEAN, BECAUSE I MEAN, WE'VE BEEN STAYING TRUE TO OUR MISSION, WHICH IS THE FOUR CENTERS, AND THEN HELPING TO BUILD OUT THE, THE OTHER COMPONENTS.
BUT IF THAT WERE, IF, IF WE WERE GIVEN THAT AS A, AS A, A PROPOSITION FROM, UM, THE BOARD OF COUNCIL, WE CERTAINLY WOULD CONSIDER ALL OF THOSE OPTIONS.
CHERYL, IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN AND THIS WONDERFUL, UM, PROGRAM THAT WAS BUILT IN A MATTER OF MONTHS, SO IT'S PRETTY INCREDIBLE.
UM, WELL, JUST ONE QUESTION ON SLIDE 31, UM, THE EARLY MATTERS, UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE, YOU PRE, WE PRE-K FOR SA WILL BE GIVING SUPPORT TO THAT.
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT? SO REALLY MOSTLY EXPERTISE.
SO AS EARLY, BECAUSE EARLY MATTERS IS COMPRISED OF BUSINESS AND CIVIC LEADERS WHO DON'T HAVE A BACKGROUND NECESSARILY IN EARLY LEARNING.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LANDSCAPE LOOKS LIKE IN SAN ANTONIO, WHO, YOU KNOW, LIKE THESE NUMBERS THAT I'VE SHARED WITH YOU, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT MATTER EARLY WHEN YOU'RE WORKING WITH VERY YOUNG CHILDREN SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, AND THEN ALSO BY VISITING OTHER, UM, PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND BRINGING BACK THAT INFORMATION TO THEM FOR THEM TO CONSIDER ABOUT WHAT WE MIGHT DO IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND I KNOW WE DO A LOT OF WORK, UM, WITH THE TRAINING SESSIONS THAT VOICES FOR CHILDREN YEP.
DOES WITH EARLY CHILDCARE CENTERS AND MM-HMM.
SO IN TERMS OF WITH, WITH EARLY MATTERS YES.
DOES EARLY MATTERS KNOW WHAT OUR SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE ALREADY? RIGHT.
SO THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE'VE JUST HAD THE FIRST MEETING.
AND HONESTLY IT WAS AN OVERVIEW OF PRE-K FOR S A AND WHAT IT, WHAT IT IS.
'CAUSE A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T NECESSARILY EVEN UNDERSTAND THAT OUR NEXT MEETING IS ON, UM, THE CASEY MCCORMICK FROM UNITED WAY WILL PRESENT ON E D I AND SOME OF THE LANDSCAPE ACROSS THE COMMUNITY, LIKE WHO'S PROVIDING MM-HMM.
SO YES, THAT IS, THAT'S PART OF THE, THE NEXT MEETING THAT WE'LL HAVE IS THE LANDSCAPE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND ACTUALLY I DID HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION ON A SLIDE WHEN IT CAME TO, UH, THE, THE DOLLARS SLIDE.
NUMBER 16, INVESTMENT IN SCHOOLS AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.
YOU HAVE PRIVATE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, 2.1 MILLION, UH, TEACHER INTERACTIONS, WHICH PRIVATE
[01:45:01]
AND WHAT PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.CAN I GET A BREAKDOWN OF THAT? THE PRIVATE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS? YEAH, WE CAN CERTAINLY GIVE THAT TO YOU.
THE ARCHDIOCESE IS AWARDED GRANT A GRANT AND ST.
MARY MAGDALENE IS ALSO AWARDED A GRANT.
AND I CAN GET YOU THE LIST OF THE OTHER PRIVATE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS THAT WE DO, UM, PROVIDE AWARDS TO THAT YOU DO CURRENTLY AND MAYBE ALSO THE ONES THAT YOU'VE DONE IN THE PAST SURE.
UNDOUBTEDLY, WE ARE MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THESE CHILDREN THAT, THAT HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH THE PROGRAM.
AND, UH, YEAH, I WANNA SEE THE PROGRAM CONTINUE AND I, I WOULD PRESUME ALMOST ALL OF US DO.
UM, AND I WANTED TO ASK YOU THOUGH ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE FINANCING BEHIND THIS MM-HMM.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE PROJECTED THAT OUT YET.
UM, I DO HAVE
AND I KNOW HE'S BEEN LOOKING AT SOME OF THIS, SOME OF THIS IS JUST BEGINNING IN TERMS OF, OF PROVIDING THAT INFORMATION.
BUT FREDDY, IF YOU WANNA COME UP AND TALK ABOUT WHAT THE FORECAST IS, UH, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE, UH, THE AMOUNT THROUGH OUR END OF PHYSICAL YEAR, I'M SORRY.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT THROUGH THE END OF OUR PHYSICAL YEAR 2019, WHICH IS THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2019, WE COLLECTED ABOUT $210 MILLION OF SALES TAX.
UM, THE CURRENT BUDGET FOR 2020 IS ABOUT 35.
AND IT'S ABOUT THE SAME FOR ACTUALLY IN 2021 BECAUSE OF, AS DR.
BERE EXPLAINED, THAT THE AUTHORIZATION ENDS IN MARCH OF 2021.
THE PROJECTION FOR THE FINAL YEAR IS 29 MILLION IN SALES TAX.
SO, OH, I THOUGHT YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT THE NEXT AUTHORIZATION.
SO WE'RE TALKING SOMEWHERE AROUND 260 MILLION THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF, OF THE SURGERY.
THAT'S A, THAT'S A REASONABLE FIGURE.
UM, AND I, HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL FUNDING DO WE RECEIVE FROM OUR DISTRICT PARTNERS WHERE THEIR STUDENTS BECOME PART OF OUR SERVICE? SO STUDENTS WHO ARE DUALLY ENROLLED WITH PRE-K FOR SA IN A PARTNER DISTRICT, WE, UM, INVOICE THE DISTRICT'S $3,200 PRORATED FOR ATTENDANCE FOR EACH ONE OF THOSE CHILDREN THAT'S SET IN THE M O U.
AND SO IT'S NOT BASED ON HOW MUCH IT ORIGINALLY WAS BASED ON HOW MUCH THE STATE WAS GIVING THE DISTRICTS FOR HALF DAY FUNDING.
BUT IT WAST INDEXED TO SAY, IF THE STATE CHANGES, THEN WE'RE GONNA, UM, INCREASE THAT AMOUNT.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IF WE CAN CONTINUE ON AND THE NEXT AUTHORIZATION WE WOULD NEED TO LOOK AT, DOES IT MAKE SENSE? WHAT IS THE RIGHT AMOUNT? I, I WILL TELL YOU THAT OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, FEEL LIKE THAT'S TOO MUCH TO PROVIDE AND THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE, UM, THAT THEY WOULD PROVIDE LESS.
I MEAN, SO THOSE ARE ALL, AND, AND SO THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE'LL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT AS WE GO IN TO THE NEXT, UM, REAUTHORIZATION.
IF IT'S APPROVED ABOUT WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WHAT DOES THE FUNDING MECHANISM LOOK LIKE? UH, SO ABOUT HOW MANY OF OUR STUDENTS OUT OF THE 2000 ARE ACTUALLY STUDENTS IN BOTH OUR PROGRAM AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT? WELL, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE TRYING DOLLARS, WE GET ABOUT $4 MILLION A YEAR FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN TERMS OF THAT REIMBURSEMENT RATE ONCE IT'S, UM, PRORATED FOR THE ATTENDANCE.
SO WE HAVE 11 TO 1200 OF OUR STUDENTS ARE FROM THERE.
UM, NOW I UNDERSTAND THE STATE JUST MADE, UH, AN INCREASE IN PER STUDENT, UH, REIMBURSEMENT.
UM, AND I SAW ON ONE OF THE CHARTS YOU SAID THAT THE STATE IS SPENDING ABOUT $9,000, A LITTLE OVER 9,000 PER STUDENT IN, I GUESS IN, IN OUR COUNTY AND THEREABOUTS.
SO WE'RE GETTING ABOUT A THIRD OF THAT RIGHT NOW, ROUGHLY SPEAKING.
AND, UM, AND YOU'RE SAYING THAT AMOUNT WILL STAY THE SAME, BUT IT COULD POSSIBLY GO UP IF WE RENEGOTIATE IN THIS NEXT REAUTHORIZATION? RIGHT.
AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT, UM, THE, THE WAY THAT THE STATE FUNDED FULL DAY PRE-K IS A LITTLE BIT WONKY, UM, IN THAT THEY'RE NOT ACTUALLY, THEY DIDN'T PUT IT INTO THE FORMULA FUNDING.
IN K THROUGH 12, YOU GET X NUMBER OF DOLLARS FOR EVERY FULL-TIME STUDENT.
IN PRE-K, YOU STILL GET X NUMBER OF DOLLARS FOR HALF DAY.
THE OTHER MONEY TO FUND THE FULL DAY FOR PRE-K COMES FROM A WEIGHT THAT IS CALCULATED BY THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN YOU HAVE IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE.
SO DISTRICTS ARE GETTING ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR EVERY CHILD IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH THIRD GRADE.
AND THEN THAT ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS INTENDED TO FUND FULL DAY PRE-K, BUT IT'S NOT A ONE-TO-ONE, WHICH WILL, AND THE STATE ALSO WANTS THE DISTRICTS TO USE PART OF THAT FUNDING TO FUND SOME OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
SO IT'S NOT, IT'S, THAT'S WHY IT'S A LITTLE BIT COMPLICATED AND, AND WHY DISTRICTS ARE STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DOES
[01:50:01]
THIS WORK, UM, WITH FUNDING FULL DAY PRE-K 'CAUSE IT'S NOT BUILT INTO THE FORMULA.BUT I GUESS WHAT, WHAT I'M LOOKING AT IS THEN WE'VE GOTTEN FOUR, ABOUT $4 MILLION A YEAR FOR SEVEN OR EIGHT YEARS BY THE TIME IT FINISHES.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, $30 MILLION OR SOMETHING ON TOP OF WHAT WE'VE PULLED IN FROM SALES TAX.
UM, HAVE WE LOOKED AT TRYING TO INCREASE THE FUNDING WE GET FROM THE STATE BY BECOMING A CHARTER AND, UH, INSTEAD OF, UH, JUST BEING WHAT WE ARE AND, AND SUBCONTRACTING WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS BE OUR OWN CHARTER, WHICH I WOULD THINK MIGHT BRING IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO US.
UH, SO HAVE WE LOOKED AT THAT OR CONSIDERED THAT? THAT IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT THE BOARD COULD CONSIDER.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHEN PRE-K FOUR S A WAS LAUNCHED, THAT THERE WAS A ROBUST DISCUSSION AROUND THAT WHETHER PRE-K FOUR S A SHOULD BE BE A CHARTER.
UM, AND I THINK THAT THAT CERTAINLY IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED.
THERE ARE ALSO SOME OTHER OPTIONS WITH BEING IN-DISTRICT CHARTER.
SO WE HAVE OUR AGREEMENT WITH EDGEWOOD.
WE ARE ESSENTIALLY FOR THAT PROGRAM AN IN-DISTRICT CHARTER FOR EDGEWOOD, WHICH ALLOWS EDGEWOOD TO DRAW DOWN MORE FUNDS.
AND THOSE FUNDS THEN ARE USED TO FUND THE, THE QUALITY COMPONENTS THAT WE'RE BRINGING TO EDGEWOOD.
SO THERE'S SOME OTHER WAYS TO DO THAT.
COULD WE APPLY TO BE A STRAIGHT OUT CHARTER? YES.
IF, IF THAT WAS WHAT THE BOARD AND AND COUNCIL, UM, AUTHORIZED, DO YOU HAVE STAFF THAT CAN EXAMINE WHAT THAT MIGHT BE LIKE TO LOOK AT AND PROJECT IN CASE IT'S, UM SURE.
UM, NOW WE HAVE PROGRAMS THAT WE USE TO HELP OUR PARENTS MM-HMM.
AND WE FUND THAT DIRECTLY, UH, TO THE PARENTS WHO WE SERVE.
DO WE ALSO HELP OTHER DISTRICTS WITH THAT KIND OF TRAINING? SO THROUGH A COMBINATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND GRANTS, WE DO SUPPORT OTHER PARENTS.
WE FUND, UM, PARENT PROGRAMS FOR OTHER PRO OTHER, UM, FOR PARTNER DISTRICTS IN OUR, IN OUR GRANT AWARDEES.
BUT WE ALSO ARE BEGINNING TO DO OTHER PARENT EDUCATION, JUST SORT OF GENERALLY LIKE WE DO WITH PROFESSIONAL LEARNING.
SO THE PROGRAMS, THE PIECES THAT ARE, UM, MOST SUCCESSFUL WITHIN PRE-K FOUR S A WE'RE CODIFYING SO THAT WE CAN REP REPLICATE THOSE IN OTHER PROGRAMS AS WELL IF THE PROGRAMS WANT TO DO THAT.
AND THAT'S PART OF THE INNOVATION PIECE THAT WE'RE BUILDING OUT AROUND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND SPEAKING OF FAMILY, I JUST DO ONE IN, IN, UM, IN REFERENCE TO THE, THE PRESENTATION BEFORE US ON THE CENSUS, THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE PIECES THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH FAMILIES ON RIGHT NOW IS TO UNDERSTAND THE CENSUS.
OUR FAMILY CAFES WILL BE OPEN FOR FAMILIES TO FILL OUT THE CENSUS.
WE'RE WORKING WITH THE CENSUS GROUP TO SAY, HOW IS IT THAT WE CAN GET THE WORD OUT AND MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR FAMILIES UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT.
WE'VE ALREADY DONE THAT AROUND VOTER EDUCATION AND WHY FAMILIES SHOULD BE REGISTERED TO VOTE.
AND THIS, WE'RE ADDING THAT PIECE ON AS, UM, PARTICIPATION IN THE CENSUS.
I KNOW WE HAVE VERY DIVERSE, UH, STUDENT POPULATION.
IT CAN'T, IF YOU'RE NOT DOING THAT, IT'S NOT HIGH QUALITY.
AND IN FACT, HIGH QUALITY EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IS AN ANECDOTE TO SOME OF THE TRAUMA THAT CHILDREN LIVE WITH BECAUSE WHAT HELPS CHILDREN RECOVER FROM TRAUMA ARE POSITIVE ADULT CHILD INTERACTIONS.
AND SO THAT'S, OUR WHOLE PROGRAM IS BUILT AROUND THAT.
SO YES, UM, WE DO FOCUS ON THAT.
WE HAVE A WHOLE SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TEAM LED BY A LICENSED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST WITH BEHAVIOR SPECIALISTS WHO FOCUS ON HELPING CHILDREN TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
AND IT'S REALLY MORE ON HOW DO THE ADULTS IN THE BUILDING AND THE ADULTS IN THE CHILDREN'S LIVES SUPPORT THE CHILDREN IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT.
'CAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT FIXING CHILDREN.
CHILDREN, IF THEY HAVE THE RIGHT SUPPORT, WILL GROW INTO, UM, VERY COMPETENT, CAPABLE ADULTS.
AND SO WE WANNA PROVIDE THOSE SUPPORTS AND, AND HAVE A SPECIAL TEAM TO HELP US IN THE THE BUILDING LEARN HOW TO DO THAT BETTER.
DO WE ALSO EXPAND THAT, UH, TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE IN THAT AREA TO OTHER PARTNERS TOO? ABSOLUTELY.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, THAT WAS ONE OF THE PIECES THAT GARDENDALE WAS MOST INTERESTED IN, IS BUILDING THAT COMPONENT OUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE COUNSELORS AND SOCIAL WORKERS, BUT THEY DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE THEM WORKING IN THE SAME WAY THAT OUR FOLKS WORK.
TAKE COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA.
THAT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.
I LOVED YOUR GRAPHICS BY THE WAY.
UM, FIRST, REALLY FAST, HOW MANY DAYS INSTRUCTION ARE WE OPERATING ON TO GET OUR CALCULATIONS? UH, THAT WAS CALCULATED
[01:55:01]
OUT OF THE 178 DAYS, I BELIEVE ON THAT.THE CALENDAR HAS CHANGED A LITTLE BIT SINCE 2017.
SO I'D HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THAT.
BRAD, DO YOU KNOW OFFHAND 2017 WAS IT 1 77 DAYS? YES.
THAT'S, I, I WAS JUST TRYING TO BREAK DOWN THEN A, A TRUE DAILY VALUE THEN, AH, BECAUSE IN THE MESSAGING THEN IT'S EASIER FOR ME TO TELL MY CONSTITUENTS PER STUDENT.
AND IF YOU WANNA BRING UP SLIDE NUMBER 17, IT'S EASIER FOR ME TO TELL MY, MY CONSTITUENTS AND AS I'M, I'M TALKING TO PEOPLE THAT IT COSTS NOT $1,147 PER HOUR.
THAT IT'S REALLY, I CALCULATED IT AND I DID IT WRONG AT TWO 80, SO IT CAME TO ABOUT $4 PER HOUR.
SO, I MEAN, I'LL HAVE TO ADJUST IT.
I DIDN'T HAVE, HAVE A CHANCE HERE TO DO THAT.
UM, BUT AGAIN, JUST IN THE MESSAGING, LIKE AS WE'RE TELLING OUR CONSTITUENTS, THAT MIGHT BE A, A, A, A BETTER INDICATOR.
'CAUSE YOU, YOU SHOW THAT ONE AND IT'S STICKER PRICE SHOCK.
UM, SO JUST F Y I I, THANK YOU.
I WANTED TO, UH, CHECK ON THAT.
BUT YEAH, THIS, YEAH, THOSE ARE ANNUAL.
THE 11,470 IS ANNUAL COSTS RIGHT NOW PER DAY.
AND THAT'S PER STUDENT NOT PER HOUR.
RIGHT? WELL, THE PER HOUR IS 1,101 1,147 PER HOUR FOR A DAY.
SO, UM, THE, IN THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION, I DIDN'T FIND, UH, ON THE BEST PRACTICES.
WHO IS OUR EVALUATOR OR WHO EVALUATES THIS FOR US? DO WE OUTSOURCE THIS? YES.
SO YEAH, SO WESTAT RESEARCH GROUP IS A, IS THE FIRM.
THEY'RE CONNECTED TO RUTGER RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, AND THEY COME IN AND DO OUR EVALUATION.
UM, THE NEXT IS, UH, HOW MANY, SO YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE'S 14,500 KIDS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE ABOUT 10,500 THAT ARE NOT ELIGIBLE.
DO THEY STILL, DO THEY STILL HAVE ACCESS TO SOME SORT OF PRE-K? WE DID A DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY A COUPLE YEARS AGO TO FIND THAT OUT.
AND OF THAT 10,500, THERE WERE ABOUT 3000 THAT WERE ESTIMATED THAT DID NOT HAVE ANY ACCESS, OR WERE NOT ATTENDING IN ANY WAY.
UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 3000 AND 5,000 OF THOSE 10,000, EVEN IF THEY'RE IN A CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER, IT ISN'T NECESSARILY HIGH QUALITY 'CAUSE THEY CAN'T AFFORD IT.
SECOND, UH, WELL, WELL, NOT, WELL, ACTUALLY, NO, I THINK I ANSWERED MY OWN QUESTION, BUT MY NEXT QUESTION IS, HOW MANY SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN DO WE SERVE, OR DO WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO SERVE? SO WE SERVE ALL CHILDREN THAT ENROLL, AND, UM, WITH YOUNG CHILDREN, MOST OF THEM ARE NOT IDENTIFIED AS HAVING SPECIAL NEEDS WHEN THEY COME TO US.
SO, UM, THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE HELP FAMILIES TO UNDERSTAND AND WE HELP TO UNDERSTAND, IS, IS THIS A SPECIAL NEED OR IS THIS A DEVELOPMENTAL, UM, DELAY THAT WILL, THE CHILDREN WILL LIKELY OUTGROW.
BUT WE DO HAVE CHILDREN THAT QUALIFY FOR, UM, SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AND WE SERVE THEM.
WE HAVE, UM, WE CONTRACT WITH SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS TO PROVIDE SERVICES ON SITE.
AND THEN PART OF WHAT OUR, UM, LICENSED SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST DOES IS BUILD THOSE STRATEGIES SO THAT CHILDREN CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.
BECAUSE OF THE APPROACH THAT WE USE.
UM, MOST CHILDREN, EVEN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, ARE ABLE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN OUR CLASSROOM.
THE EXCEPTION TO THAT IS CHILDREN THAT NEED MUCH SMALLER, UM, UH, RATIO.
SO EVEN A 20 TO TWO IS TOO MUCH.
IT'S TOO STIMULATING FOR THEM.
AND THEY MIGHT NEED A, A TWO TO 10.
AND IN THAT CASE, OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE ELECTED TO, UM, PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES AND RETAIN THAT PROGRAMMING.
HOW MANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS PARTICIPATE? I MAY HAVE MISSED THIS.
UM, AND THEN, UH, ON THIS, I KNOW THAT THERE'S SOME STUDENTS THAT PAY TUITION BECAUSE IT'S ON A SLIDING SCALE, AND HOW MUCH DO WE GENERATE, UM, ANNUALLY BASED OFF OF THAT TUITION? FREDDY, HOW MUCH CAN YOU TELL ME? HOW MUCH IS OUR 750,000 A YEAR.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ.
SO, UM, I, I JUST, I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE GARDENDALE CENTER BECAUSE IT IS IN MY DISTRICT AND I HAD A OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND THE OPENING.
AND, UM, IT'S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL AND I'M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CAMPUS.
BUT I KNOW THAT COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN ASKED ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP WITH SOME OF THE SCHOOLS.
AND WE KNOW THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT OUR SCHOOLS NEED, AT LEAST IN SS A I S D AND IN EDGEWOOD, IS THAT THE PHYSICAL SPACES ARE IN SUCH NEED OF REHAB.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO TRANSFORM PART OF THAT CAMPUS.
SO WHAT IS THE COST? UH, DO YOU HAVE A COST ESTIMATE FOR THAT REHAB OF THAT SPACE? PART OF, SO, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
AND, AND AS PART OF, UM, WHAT WE'RE CALCULATING NOW TO FIND OUT WHAT ARE THE COSTS IF WE'RE GONNA TRANSFORM CAMPUSES LIKE THIS, I DO KNOW THAT THE OUTDOOR LEARNING SPACES, UM, ONE OF THEM WAS ABOUT $150,000, WHICH WAS PAID FOR THROUGH
[02:00:01]
A GRANT THAT THE DISTRICT WAS ELIGIBLE FOR BECAUSE THEY WERE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH US IN TERMS OF THE COST OF, WE PUT IN WINDOWS, OBSERVATION WINDOWS IN THE CLASSROOM SO THAT THESE COULD BECOME DEMONSTRATION SITES, AND THAT WAS ABOUT $20,000.UM, I'M LOOKING AT, I'M, I'M CHECKING MY NUMBERS HERE.
UM, AGAIN, PAID FOR WITH GRANTS THAT THE DISTRICT'S BECOME ELIGIBLE FOR BECAUSE THEY'RE IN THIS PARTNERSHIP.
BUT THEN THERE ARE COSTS FOR THINGS LIKE THE PAINTING AND THE, YOU KNOW, CLEANING UP THE LANDSCAPE AND PUTTING DOWN MORE MULCH, THOSE KINDS OF COSTS.
WE ARE WORKING WITH EDGEWOOD TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS THAT, UM, COST, BECAUSE WE THINK IT'S REALLY CRITICAL THAT THE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES HAVE BEAUTIFUL SPACES IN WHICH TO LEARN.
AND YET OFTENTIMES DISTRICTS DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO DO THAT, OR DON'T NECESSARILY THINK THAT THAT'S A CRITICAL WAY TO SPEND MONEY.
AND SO THAT'S PART OF THE GARDENDALE MODEL, IS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THE COST TO CREATE THE SAME KIND OF SPACES LIKE WE HAVE HERE AT PRE-K FOR SA.
WELL, I HOPE WE COULD NAIL THAT DOWN AND, AND, UM, SHARE THAT PERHAPS IN THE NEXT REPORT, BECAUSE I THINK IT COULD BE REALLY TRANSFORMATIVE FOR OUR CAMPUSES, ESPECIALLY THE OLD ONES THAT HAVEN'T SEEN ANY LOVE IN A LONG TIME.
UH, AND SO WHAT DOES THAT PARTNERSHIP LOOK LIKE? AND, AND I GUESS MY SECOND QUESTION REGARDING PARTNERSHIPS, UM, I KNOW THE ONE THAT WE HAVE HERE IN EDGEWOOD, I THINK WAS THE FIRST ONE.
UM, SO TWOFOLD QUESTIONS NUMBER ONE.
ARE THERE ANY OTHERS PLANNED FOR THAT TYPE? UH, IN THE, ARE THEY COMING OR, WELL, NOT YET.
UM, BECAUSE THESE PARTNERSHIPS REQUIRE APPROVAL FROM THE STATE AND, AND THE EDGEWOOD GARDENDALE PARTNERSHIP TOOK A YEAR AND A HALF IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO GET IT TO THE PLACE WHERE WE HAD THE AGREEMENTS AND WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
PART OF THAT WAS A LEARNING CURVE FOR BOTH OF US.
AND THIS, IT WAS, THE PROCESS WAS NEW FOR THE STATE, BUT EVEN SO, IT ALL HAS TO BE APPROVED BY THE BOARDS.
AND SO WE ARE LOOKING AT THAT.
AND THAT'S PART OF, UM, THINKING ABOUT THE EXPANSION, LIKE HOW DO WE SERVE MORE CHILDREN? SOME OF THAT WILL DEPEND ON REAUTHORIZATION, BECAUSE OF COURSE, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT PROGRAMS, UM, AND WOULDN'T WANT TO INITIATE A PROGRAM FOR NEXT YEAR THAT WE WOULDN'T NECESSARILY BE ABLE TO CONTINUE.
'CAUSE IT TAKES MORE THAN A YEAR TO GET THE PROGRAM.
I MEAN, YOU CAN DO THE PHYSICAL SPACE IN RELATIVELY SHORT ORDER, BUT ACTUALLY TRAINING THE TEACHERS, GETTING THE CURRICULUM IN PLACE, CREATING THE SYSTEMS THAT MAKE IT GO TAKE, IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME.
AND SO MY NEXT QUESTION IS REGARDING, YOU KNOW, SO THAT TYPE OF PARTNERSHIP, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE REALLY THE ONE THAT CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION, OR SOMEBODY, MAYBE CHERYL.
UM, BUT ARE THERE ANY OTHER EXAMPLES OF CITY PARTNERSHIPS WITH ISDS? WELL, WELL, YES, BECAUSE HEADSTART PARTNERS, SO THE, UM, EDGEWOOD AND, UH, SAN ANTONIO, I S D, THEIR HEADSTART PARTNER IS THE CITY.
SO YES, THE CITY WORKS WITH THAT, WORKS WITH EDGEWOOD AND, AND S A S D TO IMPLEMENT THE HEAD START PROGRAM THERE.
AND THEN THE CITY ALSO FUNDS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PROGRAMS THROUGH THE DELEGATE PROCESS.
AND I'M GONNA LET SEE, WELL, I, I KNOW THEY'RE THE DE THE DELEGATE AGENCY PARTNERS.
THOSE I'M AWARE OF A COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS AND ALL THE AFTERSCHOOL CARE PROGRAMS, BUT THOSE ARE THROUGH THE DELEGATE AGENCIES.
IS, ARE THERE ANY OTHERS? UH, I'M CURIOUS.
CLERKSHIP WITH THE CITY AND, AND, UM, AND, AND OUR ISDS NOT LIKE THIS.
I MEAN, THERE ARE, THERE ARE OTHER, THERE ARE OTHER AGREEMENTS WE HAVE IN PLACE WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, FOR A VARIETY OF ISSUES.
HEAD START, WE'VE GOT SOME OF OUR AFTERSCHOOL CARE PROGRAMS AT SOME OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
UM, WE HAVE RE RELATIONSHIPS WITH.
AND THEN WE HAVE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO DO THINGS LIKE, UH, PERMIT AND PLAN REVIEW FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION OR REMODELING THE SCHOOLS UHHUH.
SO WE'VE GOT A VARIETY OF, OF AGREEMENTS IN PLACE.
BUT, BUT HOW ABOUT, UM, WE ALSO HAVE OUR TRUANCY PROGRAMS OR HOLES IN THERE.
AND ARE THOSE RUN BY THE CITY? YES.
THROUGH THE MUNICIPAL COURTS? YES.
UH, HOW ABOUT ANY WORKFORCE? NO.
I JUST THINK IT'S A GREAT MODEL THAT I KNOW THAT, UH, THERE IS SOME DISCUSSION AMONGST THE COUNCIL ABOUT HOW MUCH WE SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN SCHOOLS MM-HMM.
AND SO, UM, PARTNERSHIP, I, I, UH, THERE ARE OTHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP EDUCATION, SAN ANTONIO EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP.
AND WHAT, WHAT DO THEY DO? THE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES SCHOLARSHIPS.
UH, BUT ALSO I WAS THINKING ABOUT JUST OUR PROGRAM, OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ALAMO COLLEGES THAT DOES THE ALAMO ACADEMIES.
THEY'RE PARTNERING WITH HIGH SCHOOL.
BUT IS THAT, THAT'S WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, IS IT THROUGH THE CITY? UH, IT'S THROUGH A THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE AT ALAMO COLLEGES.
WE DO THE FUNDING FOR THAT PROGRAM.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT, UM, IT'S NOT DONE AT A CITY FACILITY.
UM, AND HOW, WHAT IS THAT FUNDING? HOW MUCH IS THAT? COUNCIL, I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THE EXACT AMOUNT ON THAT.
[02:05:02]
I THINK IT'D BE GREAT FOR SOME FUTURE BRIEFING.UM, I KNOW THAT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT AS WE'RE UNDERSTANDING THAT OUR POVERTY RATE CONTINUES TO RISE, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, ARE THESE MECHANISMS FOR IMPROVING THAT POVERTY RATE IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN WHAT OTHER PARTNERSHIPS MIGHT WE BE DOING THAT COULD BE ADDRESSING THAT, THAT DON'T COME TO MIND RIGHT AWAY.
I JUST, DURING THE PRESENTATION, I WAS TRYING TO THINK IF THERE WERE ANY OTHERS.
AND I, I COULDN'T REALLY THINK OF ANY.
SO THOSE WERE SOME OF MY QUESTIONS.
UH, REALLY ENJOYED, UH, A LOT OF THIS INFORMATION.
I, I DO HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU, DOCTOR.
UM, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER LAST TIME YOU GAVE A BRIEFING, WE HAD SOME DISCUSSIONS ABOUT IT AFTER, AFTER THE BRIEFING, PARTICULARLY ON THE BUDGET.
ABOUT, UH, SLIDE NUMBER 16 PARTICULARLY SLIDE NUMBER 16, UH, ABOUT THE GRANT PROGRAM.
AND IF YOU REMEMBER, I ASKED A QUESTION, WELL, HOW DO WE KNOW, HOW DO WE MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE GRANTS? AND, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THIS LOOKS, IT LOOKS LIKE THIS $21 MILLION THAT'S BEEN GIVEN AWAY, WE AUTOMATICALLY GET THIS QUALITY EDUCATION IN EVERY ONE OF THESE SCHOOL SYSTEMS OUTSIDE OF THIS, OF YOUR SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SO, UH, I'M STILL SUSPECT OF THAT, UH, BECAUSE I DON'T SEE ANYTHING BACKING THAT UP.
THE METRICS, YOU KNOW, ARE WE, ARE WE GETTING A BANG FOR A BUCK? HOW ARE WE, HOW ARE WE MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS $21 MILLION? BECAUSE I, I WAS NOT AWARE OF THAT WHEN THIS CAME OUT TO BE VOTED ON, THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY FUNDING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS FROM SALES TAX THAT WAS IN, IN MY MIND, WAS INTENDED FOR THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM.
SO, CAN YOU TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? AND I WAS NOT HERE, UM, DURING THE, THE FIRST AUTHORIZATION, BUT I DO KNOW THAT THE GRANTS WAS PART OF WHAT WAS IN THE MODEL, AT LEAST FROM THE LITERATURE THAT I HAVE SEEN, UM, THAT THAT WAS ACTUALLY PART OF, UM, THE, THE DESIGN FROM THE GET GO.
BECAUSE THE NOTION IS THAT THAT PRE-K FORSA WE SERVE AS THE MODEL.
AND THEN HOW DO YOU INCREASE QUALITY ACROSS THE COMMUNITY? BECAUSE THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, THE STATE OF TEXAS DOES NOT FUND QUALITY EDUCATION.
WE, UM, THE STATE, EVEN BY OUR CONSTITUTION FUNDS ADEQUATE, UM, UM, EDUCATION, WHICH HAS BEEN DEBATED ABOUT WHETHER, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE LEVEL OF THAT IS.
HECKMAN'S WORK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE, IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO EARLY LEARNING, RIGHT, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON YOUR COMMUNITY, UM, IT MUST BE QUALITY.
BUT TO YOUR POINT, JUST GIVING PEOPLE MONEY DOES NOT NECESSARILY CREATE QUALITY PROGRAMS. AND THAT'S WHY I SAY WE ARE RELENTLESS ABOUT THE QUALITY, UM, TO SOMETIMES WHEN IT CREATES TENSIONS, BECAUSE WE, SOME PEOPLE WILL ASK US TO FUND THINGS, THEN WE SAY, THAT ISN'T GONNA CHANGE QUALITY.
THAT IS NOT GONNA IMPROVE THE EDUCATION.
AND, AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO FUND THAT.
UM, SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT THAT'S, THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF DISCUSSION THERE.
AND AS, AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH OUR GRANTS PROGRAM AND REALLY DEVELOPED IT OUT, THAT'S ONE OF THE COMPONENTS THAT WE'RE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER AT, QUITE FRANKLY, IS DEFINING WHAT ARE THE THINGS WE'RE WILLING TO FUND? BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE CAN EXPECT THOSE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE CHILDREN THAT WE'RE SERVING.
BUT TO YOUR POINT OF HOW DO WE ACTUALLY MEASURE THAT? WE ARE TRYING TO DO THAT.
WE ARE COLLECTING DATA AROUND THAT.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE IS, UM, WORKING WITH EIGHT DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, EVERY DISTRICT COLLECTS DIFFERENT KINDS OF DATA IN A DIFFERENT WAY IN, IN DIFFERENT, UM, FORMATS.
AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO NOT PUT A BURDEN ON THE DISTRICTS TO COLLECT SOME NEW SET OF DATA, BUT ALSO TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THE GRANTS ARE IMPACTING, UM, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR SCHOOLS.
I WILL TELL YOU THOUGH, FROM OUR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS, IT'S A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO DO THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE SMALLER OPERATIONS.
UM, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ONE AND TWO CLASSROOMS, AND WE ARE ABLE TO TRACK HOW MANY, HOW MANY, UM, TEACHER CERTIFICATIONS WE'RE, WE'RE ABLE TO GET FOR OUR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER TEACHERS TO MOVE THEM INTO A DIFFERENT QUALITY RATING.
'CAUSE YOU HAVE TO HAVE, UM, TEACHERS WHO HAVE SPECIALIZED TRAINING, BUT ALSO HOW MANY OF OUR CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS RECEIVE A QUALITY, UM, STAR IN THE QUALITY RATING SYSTEM.
AND GO FROM NOT BEING RATED OR BEING RATED A NUMBER ONE TO BEING RATED NUMBER FOUR, WHERE WE ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP THAT SAME KIND OF, HOW
[02:10:01]
DO WE KNOW FOR OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS.BUT IT'S, IT, IT IS A BIG CHALLENGE.
I, UM, AND, AND WE'RE ACTUALLY PARTNERING WITH TEXAS A AND M, UNIVERSITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO HELP US WITH THAT QUESTION.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE'RE LIKE, HERE, HERE'S THE BIG ISSUE.
UM, HOW CAN WE, WHAT'S THE BEST WAY? WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO US? AND I SEE, UH, CITY MANAGER, FORMER CITY MANAGER SCULLY IS GONNA WEIGH IN AS WELL.
WELL, JUST TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION ABOUT WHAT WE DID IN 2012.
SO AFTER THE BRAIN POWER TASK FORCE, AS IT WAS ENTITLED, IT WAS CO-CHAIRED BY, UH, JOE ROBLES AT U S A A AND CHARLES.
BUT, UH, PRESENTED THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AS HOW WE WOULD USE THAT ONE EIGHTH CENT SALES TAX.
UH, WE AS STAFF WERE ASKED TO DEVELOP A BUSINESS PLAN, AND WE WORKED IN PARTNERSHIP, UH, WITH THE BOARD, UH, THAT WAS APPOINTED.
UH, ELAINE MENDOZA HAS CHAIRED THAT BOARD, AND I CERTAINLY WANNA RECOGNIZE HER BECAUSE SHE HAS WORKED WITH US SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING.
SHE COULDN'T BE HERE THIS AFTERNOON, BUT, UH, SERVED ON THAT ORIGINAL TASK FORCE AND HAS CHAIRED THE PRE-K BOARD.
UH, HAVING THE GRANT PROGRAM WAS A PART OF THE ORIGINAL BUSINESS PLAN THAT WAS PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL IN AUGUST OF 2012, ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND THEN TAKEN TO THE VOTERS.
UH, WE RAMPED UP THE PROGRAM, AND INITIALLY WE OPENED JUST TWO SCHOOLS THE FIRST YEAR, THE NEXT TWO SCHOOLS, UH, THE SUBSEQUENT YEAR.
AND THEN IN THE THIRD YEAR BEGAN THE PROCESS TO STUDY HOW DO WE GO ABOUT THE GRANT PROGRAM.
AND IT WAS SO THAT WE HAD ACCESS TO HELPING NOT ONLY, UH, CHILDREN WHO WERE UNDERSERVED OR NOT SERVED AT ALL, BUT ALSO PAROCHIAL CHARTER.
AND, UH, THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UH, WANTED TO BE IN THE, THE MIX TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE.
SO THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY, ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS.
AND SOME OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS WERE NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE AT THE SAME LEVEL THAT PRE-K FOR ESSAY WAS QUITE CANDIDLY.
AND SO THIS GIVES THEM ACCESS TO FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO UP THEIR GAME IN TERMS OF THE QUALITY OF WHAT THEY'RE PROVIDING TO THE, TO THE SCHOOLS.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE TEACHERS.
AND THAT'S REALLY THE EXCHANGE OR THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
THAT IS, WE PROVIDE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION TO THE, UH, TEACHERS, UH, TO HELP THEM BE BETTER AT WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
AT THE SAME TIME, UH, THEY ARE THEN IN EXCHANGE PROVIDING US, UH, WITH THAT CERTIFICATION SO THAT WE CAN ACCESS THE CITY FUNDS.
BUT THE GRANT PROGRAM WAS PART OF THE ORIGINAL BUSINESS PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL.
AND THAT, UH, WENT TO THE VOTERS.
AND AS, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ WAS ASKING ABOUT HOW MANY EDUCATION PROGRAMS DO WE HAVE, UH, DURING THAT CAMPAIGN PROCESS, AS WE TALKED INFORMATIONALLY IN THE COMMUNITY ABOUT PRE-K FOR ESSAY, I WAS ASKED NUMEROUS TIMES, WHY IS THE CITY GETTING INTO THE EDUCATION BUSINESS? AND WE DEVELOPED A LIST AND WE NEED TO UPDATE THAT TO SAY, HERE ARE ALL THE THINGS WE ARE ALREADY DOING.
AND BECAUSE WE WERE DOING SO MUCH AT THE END OF THE PROCESS THAT IS TRYING TO KEEP KIDS IN SCHOOL PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS, HELPING WITH SCHOLARSHIPS THROUGH THE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP, HELPING, UH, STUDENTS WITH THEIR COLLEGE, UH, APPLICATIONS THROUGH, UM, CAFE COLLEGE, UH, WE WERE ALREADY IN THAT BUSINESS.
SO WE NEED THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
AND AS WE PREPARE FOR 2020, UH, WE NEED TO UPDATE THAT SO THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT TO THE COMMUNITY.
UH, LASTLY, LET ME JUST SAY THAT THE EARLY MATTERS STEERING COMMITTEE, AND I'M SERVING ON THAT AT THE REQUEST, I WAS INVITED TO DO THAT, UH, BY JOE STRAUSS, WHO IS CO-CHAIRING THAT WITH, UH, PETER JOHN HOLT.
IT'S A, IT'S A GREAT GROUP AND IT'S REALLY AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION THAT IS TRYING TO TACKLE THE BIGGER PICTURE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE'RE AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF THAT.
BUT, AND THEY WILL BE TALKING ABOUT RECOMMENDATIONS ALSO TO THE CITY AND TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT HOW WE CAN EVEN FURTHER ENHANCE WHAT WE'RE DOING EDUCATIONALLY.
IT'S GOOD TO HAVE BACKUP, RIGHT? YEAH, YEAH, EXACTLY.
UM, I, BUT AGAIN, I'M, I'M STILL CONCERNED ABOUT TRACKING THIS AND ARE WE GETTING, YOU KNOW, SOME MEASUREMENT ON HOW THIS MONEY IS SPENT, WHAT WE'RE GETTING BACK FOR IT, AND ARE WE REALLY, ARE THESE NUMBERS REALLY TELLING THE REAL STORY OF WHAT THAT, WHAT THAT MONEY IS GOING TOWARDS ON THE GRANT PROGRAM? SO I STILL HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THAT.
AND, AND COUNCILMAN PERRY, I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT WE, WE HAVE, UM, A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS THAT IS BEING CONDUCTED BY, UM, IN COLLABORATION WITH WESTAT IN COLUMBIA
[02:15:01]
UNIVERSITY.I WAS HOPING TO HAVE IT FOR THIS PRESENTATION, BUT IT'S NOT QUITE FINISHED YET.
THAT ANSWERS SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES PROFESSIONAL LEARNING MAKE? WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE GRANT MAKE AND WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE WHOLE PROGRAM MAKE TO THE CITY? RIGHT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE INTENT IS THERE TO MOVE TO FULL DAY PRE-K PROGRAMS, AND CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE ADOPTING THAT NOW MM-HMM.
SHOULD THE CITY BE INVOLVED IN EDUCATION PROGRAM AS THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND OTHER SCHOOLS PICK UP THESE PROGRAMS, UM, SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO BE SPENDING TAXPAYER DOLLARS HERE FOR THE CITY TO RUN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SCHOOL SYSTEM? SO, UM, AGAIN, HB THREE DOESN'T CHANGE THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO ARE ELIGIBLE.
AND WE STILL HAVE 40% OR FOUR YEAR OLDS WHO DO NOT, WHO CAN'T GO TO THE, EVEN IF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS OFFER ALL THE SEATS, WHICH AGAIN, SOME OF THEM DON'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DO, BUT EVEN IF THEY DID, WE STILL WOULD HAVE OVER 10,000 CHILDREN EVERY YEAR THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS.
AND THREE TO 5,000 OF THOSE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE STATE 'CAUSE THEY DON'T QUALIFY AND THEY CAN'T AFFORD IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
AND TO PUT THIS IN, IN CONTEXT, THE CUTOFF TO QUALIFY FOR STATE FUNDED PRE-K IS $45,000 FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR.
IF YOU MAKE $45,001, YOU CANNOT ACCESS FULL DAY OR, OR STATE PRE-K, YOU'RE JUST DON'T QUALIFY.
SO IT'S NOT, AND SO THAT'S NOT A VERY HIGH THRESHOLD.
SO THERE'S STILL A NEED FOR THAT GROUP BETWEEN, UM, AND WE ESTIMATE BETWEEN 45 AND $65,000 FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR, YOU HAVE TO BE MAKING ABOUT $65,000 FOR A FAMILY OF AFFORD TO GET ANYWHERE NEAR BEING ABLE TO AFFORD HIGH QUALITY PRE-K IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
SO WE HAVE THAT GAP BETWEEN 45 AND 65,000 THAT, THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE CAN HELP FILL THAT GAP AND MAKE THAT AVAILABLE FOR CHILDREN IF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS PICK UP ALL OF THE ELIGIBLE CHILDREN, IF THEY HAVE THE CAPACITY TO, WHICH AGAIN, THAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, BUT WE'RE ONLY, WE'RE ONLY SERVICING 2000.
SO THERE'S STILL, THERE'S STILL A, A GAP THERE.
ACCORDING TO YOU, UH, SLIDE 28, THERE'S STILL A GAP THERE OF 8,500 KIDS, BUT RIGHT.
AND, UM, WE ALSO THOUGH SERVE ANOTHER 3000 THROUGH OUR GRANTS PROGRAM.
SO I MEAN, SO WE'RE CREATING ADDITIONAL SEATS, SOME OF WHICH WOULDN'T BE THERE AT ALL IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT.
SO WE, THAT'S HOW, AND, AND, BUT TO YOUR POINT, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT GOING FORWARD NOW THAT THE, THE STATE IS GOING TO PICK UP A LARGER PORTION OF FULL DAY PRE-K FOR ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.
HOW CAN WE THEN BEGIN TO SERVE THOSE KIDS THAT FALL IN THE GAP? WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? AND MAYBE, MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING CURRENTLY.
THAT'S, THAT'S THE BIG QUESTION, IS WHAT IS IT THAT WE CAN DO TO FILL THAT, UM, THAT GAP FOR THE THREE TO 5,000 CHILDREN? BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THAT 10,500 CAN AFFORD IT.
THEIR FAMILIES MAKE ENOUGH MONEY, THEY CAN PAY FOR IT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THAT'S NOT, I MEAN, THAT'S, THAT'S NOT OUR, THAT'S NOT WHERE WE'RE FOCUSED.
WE'RE FOCUSED ON THE FAMILIES THAT CAN'T AFFORD IT.
WHICH HB THREE IS FOCUSED ON THAT ALSO? NO, NO.
HB THREE, HB THREE ONLY FUNDS CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE FAMILIES, AGAIN, THAT THE FAMILIES THAT MAKE A FAMILY OF FOUR THAT MAKES $45,000 ABOVE $45,000 A YEAR CANNOT, CANNOT GO TO PUBLIC PRE-K.
THEY'RE NOT, THE STATE DOESN'T FUND THEM, BUT BELOW 40, THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING, BUT BEFORE SURE.
THAT'S THE CATEGORY THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
THE ONES THAT CAN'T AFFORD IT.
SO THAT, THAT'S WHAT THE INTENT WAS SURE.
UM, UH, LEMME GO INTO, HAD ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, I, I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND, UM, THE COST PER STUDENT, AND I'M LOOKING AT THE HOURS AND I'M REALIZING THE HOUR CALCULATION DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
BUT THE ANNUAL COST IS THAT, THAT'S THE ANNUAL COST PER STUDENT IN OUR EDUCATION CENTERS COMPARED TO WHAT IT COSTS IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS HEAD START AND A NATIONAL AVERAGE.
I'M STILL FUZZY ON THAT SLIDE, BUT, UM, DO YOU HAVE RESERVES THERE IN, IN THE PROGRAM? DOLLAR RESERVES? DOLLAR RESERVES? WE DID.
THAT WAS PART OF THE BUSINESS MODEL WAS IN THE FIRST FEW YEARS, UM, THERE WERE RESERVE FUNDS, WHICH ARE THEN SPENT DOWN IN THE REMAINING YEAR.
SO BY THE END OF THE EIGHTH YEAR, THERE WILL BE NO MORE RESERVE FUNDS.
SO YOU'VE BEEN, HOW MUCH WERE THE RESERVE FUNDS UP FRONT? I'M GONNA LET FREDDY SPEAK TO THAT.
[02:20:04]
COUNCILMAN.DURING THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE PROGRAM, UM, THE RESERVES WERE BUILT UP TO APPROXIMATELY $20 MILLION.
AND THROUGH THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF THE PROGRAM, THEY'RE GRADUALLY DECREASING TO, AS DR.
BRE SAID, AT THE END OF 2021, ASSUMING NO REAUTHORIZATION, THAT WOULD BE DOWN TO ESSENTIALLY ZERO.
AND WHAT WERE THOSE RESERVE, I MEAN, WHAT WERE THOSE RESERVE FUNDS USED FOR? UH, THEY WERE USED TO, UH, FUND THE OPERATIONS FROM FFY 15 THROUGH FY 21, FY 16 THROUGH FY 21.
EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN DESCRIBED SO FAR.
UH, SO IT WAS, THE BUSINESS PLAN WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY.
WE BANKED MONEY IN THE EARLY YEARS BECAUSE WE DIDN'T OPEN ALL FOUR SCHOOLS IN THE FIRST YEAR.
IT'S ALMOST A MIRACLE THAT WE DID OPEN THE TWO SCHOOLS THAT WE DID WITHIN NINE MONTHS OF THE, UH, TAX BEING PASSED.
MEANING WE HAD TO BUILD THE CENTERS, HIRE ALL THE TEACHERS, AND WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE FIRST C E O UNTIL JULY, UH, OF THE SUMMER WHEN WE OPENED THE SCHOOLS IN AUGUST.
BUT IT WAS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY THAT WAY.
THAT IS THE RESERVES WERE SET UP SO THAT AS WE OPENED AND EXPANDED THE PROGRAM, TWO MORE SCHOOLS IN THE SECOND YEAR, AND THEN THE GRANT PROGRAM, WE HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO BE AT FULL CAPACITY.
UM, AGAIN, I, I STILL HAVE ISSUES WITH MEASURING YES.
THE OUTPUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING THOSE NUMBERS SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE'VE RUN SO MANY TEACHERS THROUGH THE PROGRAM, SO MANY, YOU KNOW, ALL THE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES THERE.
UM, TEACHER INTERACTIONS, PL HOURS, NUMBER OF CHILDREN.
BUT THAT DOESN'T TELL ME ANYTHING.
I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE OUTPUT WAS.
AND IS THAT MONEY BEING WELL SPENT, UH, THROUGH THE GRANT PROGRAM THAT, UH, THAT YOU'RE IDENTIFYING HERE? SO, UH, UH, AGAIN, I'M ONE OF THOSE THAT'S STILL CONCERNED ABOUT THE CITY RUNNING AN EDUCATION PROGRAM.
AND, UM, UH, I HOPE THAT IT'S FULL AND OPEN DISCLOSURE WHEN IT COMES BACK UP FOR, UH, A REVOTE HERE IN THE CITY ON, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY CHILDREN WE'RE AFFECTING PER YEAR AND HOW MUCH THAT IS PER STUDENT.
UM, IN MAKING SURE THAT FOLKS UNDERSTAND WHERE THEIR TAX DOLLARS ARE GOING YES.
COUNCILMAN PERRY, COUNCIL MEMBER KEO.
WILL YOU PLEASE EXPAND ON THE BACKGROUND OF THE, UM, ON THE PERSONNEL SIDE, SPECIFICALLY HOW OUR TEACHERS ARE CITY EMPLOYEES WITHIN THIS UNIQUE STRUCTURE, BUT ALSO, WILL YOU TOUCH ON WHETHER THIS UNIQUE STRUCTURE IS, UM, HAS IT ALLOWED US TO REACH HIGHER ACADEMIC GOALS, UM, COMPARED TO OTHER COMMUNITIES? RIGHT.
SO WE ARE ESSENTIALLY A CITY DEPARTMENT.
AND SO EVERYONE THAT WORKS FOR PRE-K FOR SA INCLUDING MYSELF, WE ARE CITY EMPLOYEES.
AND SO WE ARE HIRED BY THROUGH THE HR DEPARTMENT, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER CITY EMPLOYEE IS.
AND WE OPERATE WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF THOSE, UM, POLICIES.
UM, WHICH IS DIFFERENT 'CAUSE WE'RE NOT A SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, SO, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE RELYING ON THE CITY'S STRUCTURES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO, TO MAKE THAT RUN.
AND, AND TELL ME THE SECOND PART OF YOUR QUESTION, WHETHER, UM, THIS UNIQUE STRUCTURE HAS ALLOWED HIGHER ACADEMIC OUTPUT? WELL, THAT WAS WHAT THE U T S A STUDY WAS ABOUT, WAS LOOKING AT.
WE KNEW THAT FROM OUR YEAR AFTER YEAR STUDIES FROM WESTED OF WHAT'S HAPPENING WHILE THE CHILDREN ARE IN THE PRE-K FOUR A PROGRAM FOR THAT YEAR, WE KNEW THAT THAT WAS EFFECTIVE.
SO THEY WERE COMING IN BELOW THE NATIONAL NORM, THEY'RE LEAVING ABOVE THE NATIONAL NORM.
THE TEACHERS ARE TEACHING AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL.
THAT PART WE KNEW, WHAT WE DIDN'T KNOW IS WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CHILDREN LEAVE US, UM, AND GO INTO KINDERGARTEN AND, AND, UM, FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD GRADE PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO THAT'S WHERE THE U T S A, UM, URBAN INSTITUTE STUDY CAME IN TO SAY, WHAT DID HAPPEN TO THAT FIRST COHORT OF CHILDREN AFTER THEY LEFT PRE-K, FIRST S A.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE SAW BETTER MATH, BETTER READING, BETTER ATTENDANCE, LOWER SPECIAL EDUCATION THAN WOULD'VE BEEN PREDICTED.
UM, AND IN COMPARISON TO THEIR PRE PEERS WHO DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE PROGRAM.
SO IN THAT REGARD, AND I WILL TELL YOU HONESTLY AS A RESEARCHER, I WORRIED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE WHAT ALL OF THE EXPERTS TOLD US WAS, DO NOT EXPECT TO SEE BIG OUTCOMES IN YOUR FIRST COHORT OF STUDENTS.
THAT'S JUST NOT HOW THESE PROGRAMS WORK.
YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND RUNNING.
AND SO I HONESTLY WAS TERRIFIED TO SEE THOSE RESULTS.
AND WHEN I, I JUST COULDN'T BELIEVE IT WHEN I SAW THAT, I WAS LIKE, THIS IS UNREAL.
AND WHICH IS ALSO WHAT EXPERTS ARE SAYING, WAIT, THIS IS UNREAL.
LIKE, HOW IS THIS EVEN HAPPENING? AND EVEN OUR INTERNAL RESULTS THAT SHOWED FROM THE VERY GET GO, THE CHILDREN WITHIN THE PROGRAM, WERE MAKING TREMENDOUS PROGRESS.
SO THAT'S, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO STUDY AND FIGURE OUT, WHAT DID YOU DO? AND
[02:25:01]
THAT MADE THIS WORK SO MUCH BETTER THAN SOME OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHERE THEY'VE OPENED UP CENTERS.BUT AGAIN, I WOULD SAY IT'S 'CAUSE THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY FOCUS ON QUALITY.
OUR CENTERS WERE BUILT TO BE THE HIGHEST QUALITIES AND TO MEET EVERY ONE OF THOSE NEAR STANDARDS.
AND, AND THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT.
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT? AND I, AND I DO HAVE TO, UM, ECHO WHAT CHERYL SAID ABOUT OUR, OUR BOARD HAS BEEN TREMENDOUS.
THE CITY LEADERS HAVE BEEN TREMENDOUS IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN.
IT'S SHEER WILLPOWER THAT THE PROGRAM GOT OFF THE GROUND.
AND I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA JUST ASK ABOUT, UH, CHERYL, AND SHE JUST LEFT, BUT YOU KNOW, UH, LUCKILY SHE DID MAKE HER WAY UP TO THE PODIUM AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW SHE'S HELPING AND, UH, HELPS TO CLARIFY A LOT OF, UH, THE MECHANISMS THAT MADE THIS HAPPEN.
AND SO LOOK FORWARD TO MANY MORE OF THOSE UPDATES.
AND JUST A STATEMENT ON MY PART.
I, I DO BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD BE A PART OF EDUCATION.
IN FACT, I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD BE A PART OF EDUCATION.
UH, IT, IT'S, IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OUR COMMUNITY, AND IF WE DON'T SEE THAT HOLISTIC APPROACH, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE CERTAINLY, UH, FAILING OUR KIDS.
SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO.
I CERTAINLY AM SUPPORTIVE AND, UM, CAN TELL YOU THAT, UM, THIS IS, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO SUPPORT AND, AND, AND TRY TO FIND WAYS TO EXPAND.
THANK YOU, UH, TO THE STAFF AND THE BOARD, UH, PRE-K FOR SA.
THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR WORK, YOUR SERVICE.
UM, THE TIME IS NOW 4:45 PM ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16TH, 2019.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WILL NOW MEET IN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071, CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY AND TO DELIBERATE OR DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING ITEMS, LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO LITIGATION INVOLVING THE CITY PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071 CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY.
THE REMAINING ITEMS THAT WERE POSTED FOR TODAY WILL BE CARRIED OVER UNTIL TOMORROW, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 2019, AND WILL BE HELD AT ANY TIME DURING THE CITY COUNCIL.
A SESSION THAT BEGINS, NO LATER, EXCUSE ME.
NO EARLIER THAN 9:00 AM IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER IN THE MUNICIPAL PLAZA BUILDING.