Executive Office on Early Learning (EOEL)

Early Learning Board Meeting

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

AGENDA

1:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), 2nd Floor

Kindergarten and Children’s Aid Association (KCAA Preschools of Hawaii)

2707 South King Street, Honolulu, HI  96826

The public may attend the meeting in person or remotely via the ZOOM link (see below)

The Chair will preside virtually

 

Early Learning Board Vision:  Creating a sustainable early learning system that partners with families to ensure that every child is healthy, valued, and successful in school and life.

Early Learning Board Mission: To support children’s academic and lifelong well-being by directing and supporting the Executive Office on Early Learning for an effective, coordinated, high-quality early learning system from prenatal to kindergarten entry.

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Board expectations:

• Inquiry mindset. Ask informed questions. Other mindsets are equity, bold, and radical. (Anne Douglass)
• Come informed: Written reports are to be read before meetings.  Meeting time can be utilized for discussion and decision-making.  Not all written reports require decision-making.
• County representatives should be informed about early learning in their county.
• Shifting in our thinking from seeing early educators as objects of change to agents of change. (Anne Douglass)

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The Board will accept public testimony with each agenda item.  Public comments are limited to 2 minutes per agenda item and must address items listed on the published agenda

 

 

I.	Welcome/Vision & Mission/Announcements/Roll call: Elaine Yamashita Vision & mission read by: Stephanie Shipton Documents approved in December are in ELB drive: 1.       2024-25 Framework of Policy Priorities 2.       2024-25 EOEL Executive Director evaluation criteria	1:30 – 1:35
II.	Review and Approve Minutes: Elaine Yamashita Action: Approve 12/12/24 Meeting Minutes	1:35 – 1:40

 

III.	Executive Office on Early Learning Updates Report: Director Arikawa-Cross/Staff Roadmap to Achieve the Objectives of Act 46 and Act 210 (SLH 2021) related to early learning and early childhood care opportunities in the State of Hawaii by 2032 – Public Pre-Kindergarten Expansion & Early Learning Board (ELB): ●     Workforce Development and Support ●     Facilities for Early Childhood Education Programs ●     Funding for the Early Care and Education Mixed Delivery System ●     Program Quality Improvement and Maintenance ○     Hawai’i Association for the Education of Young Children (HIAEYC) Accreditation Support (National AEYC, National Early Childhood Program Accreditation, National Association of Family Child Care) Legislative Updates ●     Legislative Process Training for EOEL ●     Meetings with Legislators ●     Budget Briefings Outcome: Information, questions Public comment	1:40 – 2:10
IV.	The proposed salary schedule for EOEL Executive Director: Governance Committee, Matthew Shim Referred to Governance by Finance committee.   Governance Subcommittee Update to ELB on 12-12-24.docx   Outcome: Discussion, vote. Public comment	2:10 – 2:25
V.	Unfinished business: How to address compliance with Head Start Act in relation to ELB having a “representative of local providers of early childhood education and development services.” Elaine Yamashita, Yuuko Arikawa-Cross, Government Affairs Specialist Jennifer Chow   In the November meeting, the board approved moving the proposed bill forward. The purpose is to address compliance with the Head Start Act with the addition of the director of the Head Start Collaboration office and a representative from the Head Start agencies as ex-officio members. Board started discussion on how to include language to include the representative of local providers. The current board has an early childhood program director as a voting member. Suggestions included language to include a representative of local providers as an ex-officio if no voting board member fills that role.   Outcome: Discussion, action on next steps Public comment	2:25 – 3:00

 

	BREAK	3:00 – 3:10
VI.	Unfinished business: Update on Act 156 (SB 2475 SD2 HS2 CD1) – Establishing the Harm to Students Registry and Dept. of Human Services (DHS) access to the Registry: At the December meeting, DHS board member Dayna Luka agreed to check with the DHS deputy attorney general (AG) regarding the most effective way to have DHS gain access to the Registry. This is an update on the discussion.   Outcome: Information, discussion Public comment	3:10 – 3:30
VII.	Proposed policy re: Mixed delivery system: Elaine Yamashita ELB has supported a mixed delivery system, which supports family choice. However, it has not been an articulated policy.   The first step is to come to an understanding of what the term “mixed delivery system” means, and what it looks like in Hawai’i.   Today is an introduction to the term, using materials from the Early Care & Education Consortium, Early Childhood Education Advocates, and EOEL.   Definition of the term: https://www.ececonsortium.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ECEC-Solutions- Paper-Mixed-Delivery.pdf   Short video explaining benefits of mixed delivery: https://test.eceadvocates.com/index.php/news/56-the-right-direction-mixed-deli very-early-care-and-education.html   EOEL diagram which shows the variety of funding that supports family choice. https://earlylearning.hawaii.gov/early-learning-opportunities-in-hawaii/   Outcome: Information, discussion. Public comment	3:30-3:55
VIII.	Review Agenda Outcomes/Announcements/Closing – Elaine Yamashita	3:55 – 4:00
Items for the February agenda
I.	Presentation from County Coordinators Sharing information on what the different coordinators do.

 

Next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2025

Public Written Testimony addressing items on the agenda: Interested persons may submit written testimony via email to Tara Castrovinci at [email protected]. For easier recognition, please include the word “TESTIMONY” in the email subject line. Testimony may also be hand delivered or mailed to Tara Castrovinci, Executive Office on Early Learning, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Elementary, 2759 S. King Street, Room C6, Honolulu, HI, 96826. Written testimony must be received no later than 3 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2025, for Board consideration and possible inclusion in the Board Packet. Any written testimony submitted after such time will be retained as part of the record and will be distributed to Board members at the beginning of the meeting. Written testimony may be part of the Board Packet and posted on the Board website; given that possibility, the public should be mindful about sharing personal information in their written testimony.

 

Remote Oral Testimony addressing items on the agenda may also be provided during the meeting. To provide Video/Zoom Testimony, interested persons may use the Zoom Meeting link https://hidoe.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsdeuuqj8qGtfhGwrroC_LXXdEK1-MG38v. They may use any one of the following methods to offer oral testimony: indicate in the chat they wish to offer oral testimony when the Chair announces an agenda item; call or email Tara Castrovinci (see email/phone number below) by 9 am on the day of the meeting to request that the testifier be called on by name to present oral testimony; or, use the “raise hand” feature in Zoom. Public oral testimony is limited to 2 minutes per agenda item and must address items listed on the published agenda.

 

Board Packets (Meeting Materials) are available on the EOEL/ELB Website at https://rebrand.ly/ELB. The Board Packet will also be available for public inspection in the EOEL’s Office (Prince Jonah Kūhiō Elementary, 2759 S. King Street, Room C6, Honolulu, HI, 96826)

 

The ELB is conducting in-person meetings at the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Center for Early Education and Development (CEED), 2nd Floor Kindergarten and Children’s Aid Association (KCAA Preschools of Hawaii) location (2707 South King Street, 2nd floor, Honolulu, HI 96826) with some Board members joining remotely. The Public may attend the meeting in person, or may join remotely using the link below:

 

Join Zoom Meeting: https://hidoe.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsdeuuqj8qGtfhGwrroC_LXXdEK1-MG38v Passcode: x9^LwZ^S

Meeting ID: 851 2264 4003

 

Dial a number based on your current location:

US: +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 444 9171 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 719 359

4580 or +1 253 205 0468 or +1 689 278 1000 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 305 224 1968 or +1 309

205 3325 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 360 209 5623 or +1 386 347 5053 or +1 507 473 4847 or +1

564 217 2000 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 646 931 3860

 

If you are logging into Zoom via computer or mobile app, we request that you identify your first and last name as well as the organization you are representing, but it is not necessary for you to do so to attend the meeting. If you choose to identify yourself, you can do this when you sign onto the meeting or once you are in the meeting. Attendees who wish to remain anonymous need not disclose their names or organizations and/or may use pseudonyms or other identifiers.

 

Captioning is available through Zoom; the host will turn it on for all.

 

If you need auxiliary aids/services or other accommodation due to a disability, contact Tara Castrovinci at (808) 784-5350 or at [email protected] as soon as possible. Requests made as early as possible will allow adequate time to fulfill your request. Upon request, this notice is available in alternative formats.

 

If the Zoom connection is interrupted during the meeting, the meeting will recess for up to thirty

(30) minutes to allow staff to attempt to restore connectivity. If the audiovisual connection cannot be restored, the meeting may reconvene with audio only using the phone information listed above. If the connection cannot be restored within thirty (30) minutes of interruption, the Board may continue the meeting by notifying the public of the date, time, and place of the meeting at early learning.hawaii.gov/about-us/early-learning-board/. Otherwise, the meeting will be automatically terminated.

 

For help with Zoom, visit: https://support.zoom.com/hc/en