The Oak Park community and its associated school districts renewed an intergovernmental agreement that will help fund the Collaboration for Early Childhood.
For over a decade, the village of Oak Park, Oak Park Elementary School District 97 and Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200 have helped fund the nonprofit collaboration. Together, the three organizations were providing around $1.3 million annually, but under the new agreement that funding has increased to over $1.74 million.
According to Mary Reynolds, the executive director at the Collaboration for Early Childhood, District 97 will now contribute over $734,000, District 200 will chip in more than $568,000 and the village of Oak Park is set to pay a little over $446,000 annually starting Jan. 1. Per the agreement, payment amounts will be reviewed and updated annually in accordance with inflation with a cap of no more than a four percent increase.
The revised agreement will prevent the need for large increases moving forward, Reynolds said. The revision also was needed because the Collaboration’s funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, part of the COVID-19 relief package, is set to expire at the end of the year. Reynolds said while funding for the program had flattened out over the last decade or so, the expiring American Rescue Plan Act funds “provided a bridge to where we are now.”
The annual increase amounts to about $221,000 for District 97, $121,000 for District 200 and $91,000 for the village, Reynold said.
“It’s a really good investment because it’s like less than one percent of your whole budget is going to a full on nonprofit that works across the community to support families and young children,” said Sophie Grimes, the communications coordinator for Collaboration for Early Childhood.
The intergovernmental agreement was unanimously agreed upon at an Oak Park Village Board meeting in late August. It’s set to be renewed every five years.
“Obviously there is a cost, but it’s an investment and an investment that pays off very well,” said Vicki Scaman, Oak Park’s village president.
The Collaboration for Early Childhood was founded in Oak Park in 2002 by community members and helps develop kids from birth up until age five.
The initial agreement between the village and school districts was signed in 2013, funding initiatives such as developmental screenings, home visits by trained educators and partnerships with school districts and the village for data collection and evaluations.
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The organization’s original model was not modeled on any existing partnership, but adjusts to fit the needs of the community, Reynolds said.
“We hear from parents about what they need and we’re able to build out that programming and adjust,” Reynolds said. “We hear from early childhood educators and programs about what they need and we’re able to respond to those needs.”
Being able to be a provider for the youth in the community is the main mission for the organization.
“Our goal is that young children arrive at kindergarten healthy, safe and excited about learning and ready for what’s ahead … that means we work with everyone who has any kind of hand in making that happen,” Reynolds said.