• SCS and Porter-Leath have been unable to reach an agreement on the terms of a contract for Pre-K services.
• The annual Porter-Leath contract provides direct Pre-K services to1,520 children out of approximately 5,600 Pre-K students served by the District. 
• SCS has opted to bring the remaining Pre-K services in-house after unsuccessful negotiations. 
• Porter-Leath requested a substantial increase in funding to provide fewer services to Pre-K students at a higher cost which could jeopardize the SCS Head Start grant by putting the District out of compliance with federal requirements.
• There will not be a disruption of services or support for students and families.
• Up to $3 million in educational cost savings has been identified by the District to strengthen services and program expansions.
• The SCS Human Resources team will share details in the coming days about career opportunities for early childhood educators and staff impacted by this transition.

• SCS has layers of systems in place to drive decisions with data. Key Performance Indicators presented in April 2021 show:
• 69% of Kindergarteners who attended an SCS Pre-K program in 2019-20 were considered Kindergarten ready in reading compared to only 40% of students who did not attend an SCS Pre-K program.
• Students attending SCS Pre-K consistently outperform their peers on measures of kindergarten readiness, even after the pandemic.
• SCS Early Childhood classrooms have exceeded or maintained comparable scores to the 2019 Office of Head Start national average. SCS classrooms are scoring 1 point above the national average in Instructional Support.

• Federal administrative cap for both SCS and Porter-Leath is 15% combined. Porter-Leath currently operates at 13% administrative costs (serving 1,520 students) compared to SCS’ 5% admin costs (serving 1,680 students directly), which, according to Porter-Leath’s funding request/proposal, includes a salary ($208,804) for Porter-Leath’s CEO that exceeds the permissible salary cap for executives ($199,300).  
• Porter-Leath has proposed the exclusion of comprehensive services for nearly 720 students (approximately $922K) along with subcontracted services for nursing, speech, and mental health services (approximately $835K). 

• Since 2014, SCS has increased programming (including teacher assistants and HR/onboarding staff) to ensure the District is in compliance with class ratios, health mandates, and disability program services, etc.
• Playgrounds are a fundamental part of the Pre-K experience. Since 2014, all Pre-K center playground equipment and fields have been a direct cost to SCS based on federal grant regulations and requirements.
• SCS Head Start grant funds were utilized to provide all Pre-K students with remote learning devices and manuals during the pandemic.
• SCS continues to provide wraparound support to families in community programs even without funding from Head Start, First 8, or General Funding.
• There was an increase in parent engagement activities (family nights, literacy sessions, community activities, etc.) in person and virtual from the SCS office during the pandemic.
• SCS streamlined registration processes by transitioning to online portals/platforms which was a direct cost to SCS.
• Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment, and Attendance (ERSEA) governs how programs determine eligibility, enroll children, and track attendance. The SCS team uses funding/resources to help programs assess services and recruit the children and families most in need.