Select Committee on the Families, Education, Preschool & Promise (FEPP) Levy 4/11/2025

All right, good morning, everyone.

The April 10th, 2025 meeting of the Select Committee on Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy will come to order.

It is 11.03 a.m.

I'm Maritza Rivera, chair of the committee.

I would like to note that Councilmembers Solomon and Councilmember Strauss are excused from today's meeting.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Saka.

Council Member Hollingsworth.

Present.

Council Member Moore.

Council Member Kettle.

Council President Nelson.

Present.

Vice Chair Rink.

Present.

And Chair Rivera.

Present.

Five Council Members are present.

And I will note for the record, Council Member Moore has also joined us.

All right.

We will now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on the agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are, oh, I skipped the approval of the, thank you clerk.

If there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

There's one item of business on today's agenda.

We have a presentation from the Department of Education and Early Learning, which will be an overview of the 2018 Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy.

I would like to thank Director Chappell, Ismael Fajardo, and Marissa Roussel for coming to the council chambers today to present.

We will now open the public hybrid comment period.

Public comments should relate to items on the agenda or within the purview of this committee.

Clerk, how many speakers are signed up today?

Currently, we have zero in-person speakers and one remote speaker signed up.

The public comment period will be moderated in the following manner.

The public comment period is up to 20 minutes.

Each speaker will have two minutes.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they registered.

We will start with in-person speakers first and then remote speakers until the public comment period has ended.

Speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of their time.

The public comment period is now open.

We will now begin with the first speaker on the list.

There are no in-person speakers, so the first remote speaker is David Haynes.

Speaker, please press star six when you hear the prompt of you have been unmuted.

Hi, thank you, David Haynes.

If they didn't have such perverted ideas for how to miseducate and ignorantly pervert the minds and biological bodies of other people's kids, Trump would have never got elected.

You can't expect the working class to rely on the progressive Democrats who want to virtue signal the issue of childcare, even though their policies continue to make it safe and basically want to prioritize perverting the minds of kids.

And it makes you wonder about the progressive party and what their best interests are and maybe like why we need some real oversight and like revolt within.

Um, But the thing is with childcare, we have to have robust floor plans within these new buildings.

We have to have like almost a guaranteed given that there will be like, say you have a quad plex that's not given to the car, given over to the car centric idea of infrastructure, but it has a robust build out within the core center of the building so that all four sections can share, can share in the livable space.

One of those spaces could be a type of childcare-like space, along with your private office suite and your fitness room and your rooftop deck.

But there's a lot of people that still want to put restrictions to sabotage working-class families, to backstab the workers.

And council seems to go along with that because they want to appease homeowners who've already treaded on and sold out a multitude of younger generations.

And if you take a look at all the watered-down deregulations within childcare, there's a lot of shady people that need to be regulated because they're using their own home and padding the cost of that real estate that's not set up exclusively for kids, that they're just basically, like, cheating the kids.

And sometimes it makes you wonder, what type of food are they trying to save money?

Are they trying to save money and give kids, like, the sugar fix tricks in the mix, like, just give them anything because the parents aren't around?

If we need audio and video inside the childcare,

Chair, that is our last registered speaker.

All right.

Thank you, clerk.

There are no additional registered speakers.

The public comment period is now closed.

So we'll now proceed to our item of business.

Will the clerk please read item one into the record.

Agenda item one, 2018 families, education, preschool and promise levy overview.

Thank you.

This item has been read into the record.

Colleagues, thank you for being here today.

As this is a select committee, all nine of us are part of this committee as we look forward and start the review of our families education preschool promise levy renewal.

As you may know, Seattle residents have shown their commitment to children and youth by passing six education levies since 1990. Voters passed the families and education levies in 1990. 1997, 2004, and 2011. In 2014, a separate levy for preschool programs was passed.

Then in 2018, the Families and Education and Seattle preschool levies were combined.

The Seattle Promise program was added, and the result is the current Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy, otherwise known as FEPP.

The FEP levy funds early learning, childcare and preschool to ensure children are kindergarten ready, academic and healthcare supports for K through 12 students, and access to a two-year degree for all public school graduates.

We know that kids have better long-term outcomes when they have access to quality childcare and preschool.

This is why Seattle has funded childcare for decades.

In the K-12 space, we know it is the state which holds the paramount duty of funding K-12 education.

This is why our levies support, not supplant, the state's legal responsibility.

These investments help SPS students graduate and succeed and provides access to general health and mental health care during school hours.

In the newer Promise investment, the city has partnered with our Seattle colleges to provide universal access to post-secondary education for all SPS graduates.

Today, we will start our levy renewal work with an overview of the current investments provided by the 2018 FEP levy.

Director Duane Chappelle and staff from the Department of Education and Early Learning will discuss the investments made in these four areas, childcare preschool, K-12M Promise.

I want to thank you in advance for prioritizing these select committee meetings.

As we did with the transportation levy, we will also need to vote on the FEP levy renewal package to have on the November ballot.

Voters will then decide.

I recognize that as a full council, we are also engaged in completing the city's comprehensive plan and that work is running concurrently with the FEP levy renewal.

I appreciate our colleague, Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth's leadership of that process.

Colleagues, as you know, we cannot do this work alone.

I want to thank our deputy city clerks, Emilia Sanchez, Jody Schwinn, and Phillip Wood Smith for their support of these select FEP committee meetings, along with our city clerk, Shereen Dedman.

I would also like to thank our central staffer, Jasmine Marwaha, for her dedication and assistance and for working with all of us on this important piece of legislation.

And of course, a special note of gratitude from my legislative assistants, Wendy Sykes and Nicole Munoz-Castledoc for their long hours of work in support of this levy and for all the work they do every day in support of our city.

And I would be remiss if I didn't also acknowledge the partnership and collaboration of Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington, who's leading this work in the mayor's office and then Director Chappelle and his staff at Deal.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge colleagues that we're in a time of extreme chaos.

The Trump administration's ongoing efforts to dismantle huge swaths of the federal government, including eliminating the Department of Education and shuttering Seattle's Head Start office, are a deeply destructive and irresponsible attack on the education of our children.

We know that about 7% of Washington state's education funding is at stake.

I am ever grateful that Governor Bob Ferguson has prioritized education funding despite the state's budget challenges.

We must do everything in our power to try to force the federal government to reverse course on these sweeping cuts.

It seems clear that the president is exceeding his authority and Congress and the courts need to act to restore our system of checks and balances and protect programs that are pivotal to the education and well-being of all our kids.

In the coming days, I'll be in touch with our governor's office, our congressional delegation, and our state and local leaders about how to best counter these attacks.

We must not let the federal government off the hook for their fiscal and moral responsibilities that they have to the people of this country and to our city in particular.

Thank you in advance, colleagues, for your work on this committee.

As I see, Director Chappelle and his staff is at the desk.

Please raise your hands, colleagues, as we go, if you have questions related to the presentation, and I will be sure to call on you.

Director Chappelle and team, welcome.

Please state your names for the record, and you can begin your presentation on the overview of the current levy investments.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Good morning, Councilmember Chair Rivera and the other amazing committee members.

It's good to see you all today.

Really, but most importantly, thank you all for inviting us today to share more on our work related to the 2018 Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy.

My name is Dr. Duane Chappelle.

I am the proud director of the Department of Education and Early Learning and sitting at the table with me, I would like to introduce my team.

I have Dr. Fajardo and Marissa Roussel here, but we also have some of another more amazing colleagues behind us from Lori Baxter, Jim and I, Dr. Alejandro, Leilani, Amanda, Yes, just wanted to acknowledge the folks that were here.

I had to make sure I got everyone.

So, as you mentioned, Councilmember, this presentation will provide an overview of our signature investments and share how DEAL's investments from childcare to college create an ecosystem of support so Seattle youth can thrive.

Okay.

Oh, go ahead.

Keep going?

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

You can go to the next slide.

So today, we are here to provide an overview of the FEP 2018 levy.

We will begin with a look at the current FEP levy and its impact across key areas.

Then, we'll highlight lessons learned that will help shape future improvements.

As a reminder, we will return back to this committee to help present the mayor's proposal for levy renewal on April 24th.

So please know that if there are questions or comments regarding the upcoming April 24th mayor's proposal, we will document them.

and then we will be prepared to discuss them in a future committee.

We also know that Council Central staff is prepared to support, and we can follow up with them on any questions not answered here today.

As always, I love to ground us in the department's goals.

The Department of Education and Early Learning is focused on advancing educational equity, closing opportunity gaps, and building a strong cradle-to-career pathway.

Everything we do from early learning to post-secondary is designed to support Seattle students' long-term success.

So I always wanted to ground us in our goals.

So what is the FEP levy?

The FEB levy was approved by Seattle voters in 2018 for a period of seven years.

Investments will continue through the 25-26 school year, and we are currently in the sixth year of implementation.

And as you can see here on this slide, the city's first education levy, as you mentioned, Councilmember, was in 1990 under Mayor Norm Rice.

This levy set the foundation for investment in early childhood and school-based health centers.

The city has continued to increase its investment in children, and more notably, with the addition of the Seattle Preschool Program in 2014, which is shown in the light blue here on this slide.

And in 2018, we were thrilled to sustain these investments and add the Seattle Promise Program to our department's portfolio.

Just so you know, the FEP levy represents 75% of deals overall budget.

So the FAP levy has made important investments in our community since we began delivering services in 2019. With $619 million in revenue, we have served nearly 70,000 children and youth since 2019. Investments in preschool and K-12 student supports represent the majority of the 2018 FEP levy, with 47 and 27% respectively.

That's the light green and dark blue here that you see on the pie chart.

I wanna highlight that the smallest investment in the 2018 levy is childcare, and what that does, it represents 2% of all investment, and this is focused specifically on before and after care for preschool children.

DEAL, WE ALSO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FROM GENERAL FUND, FROM SWEETEN BEVERAGE TAX, OR SPT, TO SUPPORT CHILD CARE INVESTMENTS.

AND ADDITIONALLY, THE SEATTLE PROMISE PROGRAM, WHICH WAS NEW IN 2018, REPRESENTS 7% OF OVERALL FUNDING.

And director Chappelle, just to clarify the childcare investment, this is just for FEP, but then general fund and SBT also the city in essence is doing more than just this investment for childcare.

I just wanted colleagues to know and underscore that piece.

Thank you, council member.

And on the promise side, the 7%, it is accessible to all SPS graduates.

So It just happens that it's whatever percentage based on how many kids are utilizing it that utilized it over that time.

Thank you.

Yes.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Director Chappelle.

You can continue.

So for our current levy supports for Seattle children, so in 2025, we have more than 60 FEPP levy partners delivering services throughout the city, and I always wanna thank them, and we're so proud to partner with all of our partners.

And again, we're extremely honored to be here today to share more about those efforts.

And what I'm gonna do now is pass this next portion off to my colleague, Marissa.

Thank you, Director Chappelle.

Good morning, council members.

So I will walk you through our current childcare supports and kick off the content portion of today's presentation.

So our primary investment in childcare is the childcare assistance program.

This program, referred to as CCAP, reduces child care costs for income eligible families who are not served by state or county subsidy programs.

This is an income based eligibility program and we serve families up to 94% of the state median income, which is approximately $123,000 for a family of four.

This is just about equal to the Seattle median household income of $122,000.

We use state median income to set our eligibility so that we're in alignment with county and state programs.

This makes it easier for families to determine their eligibility.

And I also wanted to note that our eligibility threshold of 94% state median income is equivalent to 78% of the area median income.

Since 2019, this program has served nearly 2000 children.

As council member Rivera noted, this program is funded by a few different revenue sources.

Money from the FEP levy is currently restricted to only support three and four year olds who participate in the Seattle preschool program.

SPP is a six hour model.

So there's an added expense for working families who require more hours of childcare.

This investment ensures children have access to caring adults and high quality nurturing environments that support their development and academic readiness.

It also ensures parents can participate in our regional workforce and reduces household expenses related to child care.

Child care costs exceed housing costs for many families here in Seattle, and this city investment helps us close that gap.

As I noted, we've served nearly 2,000 children since 2019, and on average, the program supports more than 700 children a year from more than 500 families.

The average participating family saves approximately $7,500 a year by participating in this program.

Our program supports parents who are working, looking for work, or unable to work, primarily due to disability.

We currently have 263 participating providers citywide.

75 of these providers offer evening hours after 6 PM or 24-hour care.

Since 2019, we had 101 new providers join CCAP and start accepting our subsidy for families.

So we're very proud of this roster of providers, which expands access citywide and gives families choice for where they send their child for care.

Some lessons learned over this time are that despite the availability of state and now a county child care subsidy program, there's still significant need for city support for low and middle income families.

The state program serves families up to 60% state median income or about $78,000 for a family of four.

whereas the county program serves families up to 85% state median income or about $111,000 for a family of four.

We serve families below those income thresholds who may not meet those program requirements, again, as well as families up to 94% state median income.

Because DEAL pays a greater share of copay amount for lower income families, if we're serving families below the state and county threshold, this increases our costs per child and impacts the number of families we can serve.

I noted before about non-traditional hours of care, and we just wanted to offer that so far in 2025, we have 35 CCAP families who are enrolled to receive care with providers who do offer non-traditional hours.

Over the past three years, we had 112 families who accessed such non-traditional hours.

Director Chappelle will speak about preschool shortly.

And so we also want to acknowledge that preschool is a form of childcare for many families.

We continue to see demand from our preschool families for a longer service day.

And we currently provide families who are CCAP eligible access to this subsidy to support working families.

So, the Seattle Preschool Program, this is our signature early learning program, and it provides high-quality tuition-free or affordable preschool for three- and four-year-olds citywide.

SPP started in 2015, with 15 classrooms serving 283 children.

Since 2019, more than 7,200 children have participated, giving them a strong foundation for kindergarten and beyond.

SPP offers a six-hour day and follows a traditional school year of 180 days of service.

SPP was also designed to be a mixed delivery system, ensuring that preschool could be provided in SPS as well as community-based organizations and childcare programs.

This was very intentional to ensure that we could meet the diverse needs of...

A few highlights that I'm gonna mention is...

so again, super excited about this, that Seattle, we have received a gold medal from City Health for the last three years for meeting national quality benchmarks around our program standards, such as class size, teacher professional development, and continuous quality improvement.

We, um, there's an external evaluation conducted by the Education Northwest found that children in SPP are better prepared for kindergarten than those who did not participate in SPP, and that their academic preparedness sustained into third grade with better reading and math scores.

SPP has consistently had an enrollment above 90%, which meets or exceeds national trends.

And we also know that more than 90% of our SPP families are satisfied with their SPP experience.

And we know this from our annual parent survey.

We're also proud of our mixed delivery model, which allows for a diverse offering of classrooms and locations.

So from Seattle Public Schools inclusion classrooms, where special needs students and their typical developing peers learn together, to dual language programs and family childcare settings.

And this diverse offering allows families to choose a location and preschool community that meets their unique needs, all while maintaining quality.

What I'm gonna do now is share a little bit of some lessons learned through preschool.

And I'll start by saying, in the current levy, we are seeing consistent interest from families at sites that offers an extended day or a 10-hour model.

We also know that children and their families benefit from year-round SPP.

In the summer of 2021, we actually piloted a year-round summer model that allowed families to have continuity of care and continues the same level of financial support, whether it's free or sliding scale into a 12-month model.

Lastly, we know that strong partnerships with families are essential to ensure children attend preschool regularly, and that parents are also engaged in their child's learning and have a smooth transition to kindergarten.

And my last lesson learned I'll share is, in the fall of 2025, 935, which is actually 26% of Seattle Public Schools' kindergartners were SPP alumni.

And I'll pass this over to you, Marissa.

Next slide, Izzy.

Okay, so next for our K-12 youth supports, these investments are primarily grants to Seattle Public Schools and community-based organizations.

Our K-12 investments are all about making sure students succeed both in and out of the classroom by providing health, academic, and enrichment services.

Our K-12 investments reflect partnerships with more than 36 community-based organizations, as well as institutional partners, SPS and Public Health Seattle King County.

Each of these partners plays an important role in our city's ecosystem of support.

As the chair noted, Seattle Public Schools is responsible for providing education services to more than 51,000 K-12 students.

Deal grants and programs complement these efforts by enhancing services that are not fully funded by existing federal, state, or local funding.

Public Health is responsible for administering our network of 29 school-based health centers funded by the FEP levy.

They also operate four of their own school-based health centers alongside six community-based providers.

Public Health convenes and monitors these partners' practices to ensure students are receiving the highest level of care.

Our community-based partners offer diversity of support services to meet students' needs.

This ranges from after-school enrichment programs to academic tutoring, mentoring, as well as support for basic needs such as housing referral and emergency assistance.

Our school and community-based investments are designed to support students with the greatest need.

In addition, all Seattle Public Schools students have access to the in-school health services provided at 29 school-based health centers.

We currently fund eight elementary school, seven middle school, and 14 high school clinics.

These health centers use proven ways to help students.

They understand how trauma can affect children.

They respect different cultures and genders, and they make it easy for students to get the care they need.

They provide services such as well child exams, immunizations, and mental health screening and counseling.

Since 2019, nearly 50,000 students have been served by our K-12 youth supports.

And again, these services provide access to academic enrichment and healthcare.

We're seeing a real impact in the development of our city's youth as a result, particularly in key skills related to youth development.

For students enrolled in FEP levy programs, an impressive 85% have reported growth in 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, which are all essential for success in today's world.

We know that students in our afterschool programs often lead team projects, they practice public speaking, or they engage in hands-on learning, requiring them to think creatively and work with their peers.

In addition, 76% of these students reported improvement in their social emotional skills.

We know these are key to building healthy relationships and managing challenges both in and out of the classroom.

At our health centers, we have seen a 15% increase in student utilization of services compared to the last school year.

So this was an increase in more than 8,000 visits to school-based health centers citywide.

This tells us that students are aware of the services available to them and accessing them more frequently.

It also indicates that they see these centers as trusted spaces of support.

We know that when students receive coordinated support, it creates a foundation for both their well-being and school success.

And this is the holistic approach at the heart of what the FEP levy was designed to achieve.

So for our lessons learned, again, we're seeing meaningful increases in student participation and utilization of services, particularly around mental and behavioral health.

We also acknowledge that maintaining services both in schools and in communities is important.

This ensures that students access programs where they feel most comfortable.

Some prefer their school while others prefer a community-based setting.

This dual approach protects youth accessibility and choice.

As we continue to expand services and enter our last year of levy implementation, we recognize that improving coordination between our community partners and school communities is important.

Aligning supports with classroom learning will amplify the impact of our investments and ensure students' academic and emotional needs are addressed in a cohesive way.

So now, the Seattle Promise Program was new, as you mentioned earlier, Councilmember, to the levy in 2018. And the Seattle Promise Program, it provides 90 credits of tuition-free college to Seattle Public School graduates across three campuses here.

Over the last six and a half years, the program has grown from serving three high schools to serving 22. And since 2019, more than 1,200 students have graduated from the program, gaining access to degrees, credentials, and pathways to family wage careers.

We know this program is a game changer, and I'm super excited about it.

One Seattle Promise graduate that I recently ran into earned their health care certificate at Central, or Seattle Central, as part of the Promise program, and they're now employed full-time at a local clinic.

So for me, this is just one example of how this program opens doors to, like, real career opportunities.

especially for students who might not have pursued college otherwise.

What I want to do now is give you a few highlights of the Seattle Promise.

So since 2019, 23% of all Seattle Public School graduates have enrolled in the Seattle Promise program, and that's demonstrating its growth impact as a key pathway to higher education.

And since the program started, 38% of the Promise scholars identified as first gen...

excuse me, first-generation college students, or the first in their families to attend and complete college.

This highlight to me, or should I say, this highlights the program's role in breaking down systemic barriers and opening doors for students who are trailblazers in their families.

We're also seeing impressive results for students graduating from The Promise and transferring to other schools like UW Seattle.

So for the class of 2021, the rate for completion for a two-year degree is 33%, which is 3% higher than the national average.

With the PATH to UW program, which began as a pilot in 2021, 83% of the Promise scholars who participated were admitted to the University of Washington, Seattle.

So this exceeds comparisons with both non-PATH Promise students and the overall admission rate for the community college students.

And this shows that when we combine access with intentional guidance and support, our students will thrive.

Now, I want to share a few lessons learned.

So, college-going success begins well before high school graduation.

And when I say well before, I'm saying early and consistent communication with students and families starting as early as middle school is extremely critical.

We've seen over the last six years how more and more people know about the Promise or Seattle Promise or know someone who has benefited from the Promise program.

And what this actually means is that younger siblings, cousins, or their entire family are starting to think about college sooner and need support to start developing their college-going plans.

We've also learned that improving college readiness means aligning all high school and college expectations.

An analysis completed in the early years of the Seattle Promise, it really identified student need for remedial coursework, or what that is, basically non-credit-bearing courses.

that teach foundational skills that are college-level work.

We identified that as a key barrier to persistence or completion in attaining of a degree.

So that means that across our K-12 and post-secondary investments, we need to work with our partners like Seattle Public Schools to ensure students are truly prepared for college and can take advantage of this promised scholarship.

The other piece I'll speak to is just access to college-level work and credits in high school through programs, whether it's AP, IB, Running Start, really helps students enter college more prepared and confident.

We've also learned that the transition doesn't end at high school graduation, and the reality is, is providing coaching supports that continue through college, including mentoring, organizational support, or some type of consistent advising, really helps students not only enroll, but it also helps them persist feel confident in their course of study or whatever career choice that they're selecting and stay on track to complete.

So I wanna thank you all for this opportunity again.

I wanna thank all of our partners, though I didn't mention and name everyone to end this slide, but we work with many, and if it wasn't for our amazing and intentional collaboration with our partners, our students wouldn't be successful.

So I wanna thank them.

But most importantly, I wanna thank you all for everything and for your questions, your continued partnership.

And one more thing before we close.

I just wanna remind everyone to help spread the word that registration is now open for both the Seattle Preschool Program and the Child Care Assistance Program.

These are...

extremely critical resources for families and we want every child who's eligible to have access so they can visit the website seattle.gov slash education to learn more to apply and I just want to just say let's keep working together to make sure every child is ready and every family so thank you all and for this opportunity

Thank you, Director Chappell and to your staff at Deal for the presentation and all the work that they do every day in support of kids and families in our city.

Colleagues, I had the pleasure and honor of meeting with some Seattle Promise students.

to hear from them directly about their experience.

This is a new program and I wanted to make sure, and you know, you saw Dr. Chappelle beaming when he was saying this was a new program in 2018 and I feel the same.

Dr. Chappelle and I got to work on this together back in 2018, and this Promise piece was really exciting.

And we didn't know how it was gonna go and who was gonna utilize it.

It is a universal program, so any Seattle public school high schooler that graduates can enroll.

And what we saw, and Dr. Chappelle, thank you for the information.

I think one aspect is that the majority of the kids who are actually utilizing the program are majority BIPOC kids and low-income kids, which is terrific.

That is how it happened.

And I will say that the students are, I heard so many different reasons why people entered the Promise program.

One of course was the, they would not have had access to college otherwise.

So there were financial reasons.

Many were first generation college students in their families.

Many students weren't sure what their post-secondary life was gonna look like, and it afforded them an opportunity to get an associate's degree in either a trade, as you mentioned earlier, or a certificate, or it gave them an opportunity to explore some areas where they could then apply to the path to UW, where they could continue their college education and get their four-year degree.

So it was really, I very much enjoyed visiting with these young people, young adults, and seeing firsthand how valuable this Seattle Promise has been.

to kids in Seattle.

So wanted to share that.

It was a really, I feel really privileged to be working with Deal because I get to visit with preschoolers and babies and childcare.

And then these amazing young adults that are our future.

And it really, and then of course the K through 12 folks that go to speak at schools.

And I mean, it is really, I feel really lucky.

to be able to work with Deal and in this education space.

So anyway, I could go on and on about the amazing kids that the programs at Deal services.

But colleagues, I wanna make sure that we have time for any of your questions that you may have.

Oh, and I also wanna acknowledge that council member Kettle has joined us online and he's been here.

He joined us at the top of your presentation, but I didn't wanna interrupt the floor of your presentation.

But so council member Kettle, thank you for being here all this time and for your patience and my acknowledging you for the record that you're here.

And I see council president has their hand up and then council member Saka, sorry.

I'll build on the comments that you were making and also what I told you after our briefing, which just kudos to the promise, because my son is a junior in college now, and I happen to know that there are people in his cohort that are going to UW that are crediting this program for their ability to go to the University of Washington.

So thank you very much for all the work on that.

Here's my question, a little bit obscure maybe, but are, and I know nothing about the licensing requirements of preschool, childcare, et cetera.

Okay.

So I'll just say that, but are any of these CCAP providers also, providing the preschool.

I mean, so, and this is, okay, I'm seeing nods.

And the reason that I ask that is that preserves continuity of care for kids, right?

I can only think of if, precisely, especially that's important if you have two kids that are close in age.

One leaves to go to preschool.

Now you have a different place to take two kids.

Okay, so that I'm seeing good.

Because I was going to suggest maybe it'd be great to enhance that ability to provide both services, but I see that that's happening.

Thank you.

Council member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And Madam Chair, I just wanna say thank you for your leadership and partnership and being so diligent and collaborating with me and my office early on this process.

We're early in the journey, but you've been doing the work for months now.

So I just wanna recognize that, appreciate it, look forward to continuing to partner together.

on a going forward basis.

And Director Chappelle, thank you for this presentation from you and your team today.

I do want to thank you for your partnership and these efforts.

We have shared priorities here.

I am Very, very excited.

I am beyond thrilled, to be honest, about the opportunity that we have to build upon some of these great programs, particularly in the early childhood education space in front.

And the Promise Program is great.

I'm particularly, as a dad of three young kids, including elementary school age kids, including two that went to preschools that were members of the Seattle Preschool Program, and my youngest kindergartner, so left preschool last year.

I know firsthand, and it's not too far off, I know firsthand the importance and impact that these preschool programs have, and daycare programs have, and improving people's everyday lives and experiences, not only today, but for years down the road and generations going forward.

We always, colleagues, of course, we always strive to go upstream as much as possible.

And I think...

the research and evidence is abundantly clear that the most impactful way to do that is to provide affordable, accessible childcare or preschool for all.

Indeed, to support that proposition, we know that kids who have been exposed to and immersed in preschool programs or daycare or whatever, their life outcomes are way better compared to their peers who have not had that opportunity.

Their high school graduation and completion rates, way better.

Their college entrance and completion rates, way better.

Their annual income rates, way higher.

This is investing in early childhood education is something that we can do to disrupt the cycle of poverty.

And we all know the unfortunate correlation between poverty and crime, among other broader societal challenges.

And providing appropriate, bold investments in early childhood education can allow us to disrupt that, those cycles, those vicious cycles as well, and provide people with opportunities.

and putting them in these great programs as opposed to being watched or babysit at home by mom or grandma and half the time being babysit by the TV, the soap operas.

These programs provide opportunities from a socialization perspective of the kids, Q perspective.

They're terrific.

And, oh, by the way, this is how we can directly support and champion working families, which gets frequently bandied around in various political discussions.

This is where the rubber meets the road in that, in my view.

And so it's good for working families.

It also allows parents to get out and work.

I'll say I also would like us as a city to find more creative ways to help.

I think my ideal end goal would be to have a universal preschool for all program in Seattle.

But in order to get there, there's other various steps you need to take.

something you can't just turn on a switch and implement overnight for costs notwithstanding, even assuming you can solve that problem.

But that's my ultimate end goal.

And I'd also like us to be in a better position to pay the workers, preschool workers, teachers.

They do God's work.

I'll never forget during COVID, my children's preschool with the exception of my oldest, who was in school at the time.

They stayed open the whole time.

And we all fondly remember and thank and celebrate the service and sacrifice of our healthcare workers during COVID.

I remember the Google commercials, people cheering on, yeah, going to work, yeah, and the scrubs, and great, yes.

People in the medical field during a medical crisis and emergency called upon to do their work, and I appreciate that.

But I'm personally the most grateful, forever grateful, to the people behind the scenes.

We had to stay home to save lives.

People behind the scenes to enable our success and enable me and my wife being able to work remotely without...

with limited distraction of two-year-olds and three-year-olds crying around, having meltdowns everywhere.

Me and my wife, we had our own meltdowns, but...

My point is...

These are the unsung heroes, in my view of COVID, and they continue to be heroes.

We entrust them with the responsibility to look after the safety and education of our children, and we need to support them.

We need to pay them fairly and competitively, and cost is an issue, and so we need to make sure we take care of our workers.

All that is to say, I'm excited about the early childhood education components of the opportunity that we have before us.

Very excited because the research is abundantly clear.

This is the single most, it's never either or, one or the other, but this is the single most impactful thing we can do to go upstream, address prevention, and provide opportunity, improve people's lives.

So no question there, just some feedback from the cheap seats for what it's worth.

I was being at this fancy dais is not the chief seats.

But in any event, thank you for all your work.

I appreciate your partnership.

Looking forward to working more closely with you all and my colleagues and the chair's leadership as she shepherds us through this process going forward.

And finally, as an aside, I'll say I met yesterday with some constituents from the Refugee and Immigrant Family Center and the Southwest Early Learning Center to SPP programs in my district who serve Each served dozens of families and hundreds of children, respectively.

Today have served thousands of families or hundreds of families and thousands of children over the years.

And they had some very glowing things to say about you, Director Chappelle, Dr. Chappelle, I don't know what's your higher title here, and your leadership in your department.

So I just want to say kudos to you for that.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Uh, council member Saka.

I want to say that, um, yeah, I, you and I are aligned.

You and I talked about, um, the importance of early education.

Um, and of course you'll be happy to know that during COVID, um, we, uh, the city prioritize childcare, our childcare workers by providing, during the time that they actually couldn't even take kids because we wanted to make sure that childcare centers and preschool centers would not permanently close.

So we prioritize by giving funding, to those providers to make sure that they could keep their doors open for when kids could return to those childcare facilities and preschool programs.

So you'll be happy to know that the city prioritize that.

and Council President Nelson, I'll say in terms of this CCAP component with the SPP component, I was just at Denise Louie Center, which is actually a Magnuson Park and services a lot of the families that live in the park.

And they also were glowing about your staff and you, Director Chappelle, on their partnership with DEAL and providing these services.

And they have childcare classrooms and then they have SPP classrooms.

And a lot of those families use both.

They'll use the childcare component up until there's like the preschool programmed hours and then they do the childcare for after preschool.

So that is already happening.

So thank you for that question.

And I wanted to say that I've been to two, three childcare slash preschool facilities that offer both.

So this is something the city and Dr. Chappelle's doctor and director Chappelle's staff has been working on for quite some time, years now.

So thank you.

I see council member Hollingsworth and council member Kettle and then council member Rink.

Sorry.

I should have been prepared.

Thank you, Chair.

I appreciate you calling on me.

I'll be super quick.

Thank you, Dr. Director, Dr. Ferjardo.

And I'm going to mess up your last name, Marissa.

I'm so sorry.

Help me pronounce it again.

Roussel.

Roussel, Roussel, Roussel, thank you.

Thank you all for all your hard work and for being here.

I know Dr. Fajardo likes when I say this, and you already know what I'm gonna say.

You all are the experts, so we lean on you all.

I know you're laughing, but I'm serious.

But I had just a quick question.

When we look at other different industries, whether it's business, the disruptor was automation and AI, and NC2A, it's NIL deals.

For education, for kids, I also see some of the disruptor being the content on social media and what they consume.

And, you know, people talk about, hey, the investments that we have to make back in the day was, hey, we got to get them at the middle school level to direct them on a different path.

And I know some teachers are like, yo, we got to get them earlier now because they're These kids have phones and they're on social media and they're scrolling.

Is there stuff and investments that you see potentially coming that is opportunity for us in this levy to help direct pathways for children and kids that we need to be aware of or think about that, you know, we haven't made investments before, but it's coming this year that we should be aware of?

So I know I'm gonna let you answer, Marissa.

For one, I appreciate you calling that out because just know at the Department of Education Early Learning, we're always trying to look ahead and be creative and continue to be that leader and put Seattle on the map for our innovation.

So Marissa, I'll let you speak to the- Sure, yeah, what I'm hearing in the question is supports for students around digital literacy.

And so we know that we have financial literacy as part of our college and career readiness work and digital literacy is a part of 21st century skill development.

We can look at our current grantees and follow up with you about if anyone's specifically focusing on that.

But that's certainly a part of the work of youth development.

And I think we all agree it's a need for youth today and something that needs to be a part of future programming.

For sure, and then my last little question, and I know that you all do a phenomenal job, and when I'm talking to people, everyone talks about our kids and helping our kids, and then the second piece is that, and then having information and resources for our parents.

which is like the kids first teacher and making sure that they're equipped.

And I just really appreciate you all thinking about the holistic approach to the entire family, whatever family looks like for it comes in different shapes and sizes for our youth and our kids.

So just want to appreciate the intentionality behind the whole scope of the investments that you all are thinking about.

So thank you.

Thank you.

you council member hollingsworth and i believe the city does some maybe if not at deal hsc there is some type of of digital literacy but we'll get more information from you on that um council member kettle thank you chair rivera and thank you for acknowledging um i did come in at the beginning and unfortunately missed the um

public comment I was with the Puget Sound Regional Council but I just wanted to thank Dr. Director Chappelle and team for coming out here obviously we've had discussions before you know the two areas you know at the start so important I echo Councilmember Saka's comments and as a somebody who entered this job this position from being a stay-at-home dad for eight and a half years my daughter was eight and a half years old when I started, saw firsthand.

And I also saw firsthand the difference between those in need and then the more fluent.

And it's educating in itself to see the contrast, and it's illuminating on the challenges and gives insight in what needs to be done for those who could really benefit from the investment at a young age.

So thank you for that.

And as somebody I really...

In terms of the Promise Program, I'm really interested in the, you know, first generation to go to college, first generation Americans that are the first generation to go to college, which I am one.

And I see the Promise there being something special and the opportunity to really achieve the American dream and something close to my heart.

So I really...

applaud the overall effort, particularly on that point.

As you noted, as I've said before, I also look at the PROMISE program as a means to reach into communities for public service.

And I would love to see a program pipeline, if you will, from the neighborhoods through the PROMISE program to the police academy or to fire.

Because our police department and our fire department needs people, needs strong people who know the neighborhoods.

And I see this as a win-win, an investment in our people, but also an investment in our public service entities here in Seattle.

And I just wanted to close with my question, but unfortunately my neighbor, Councilmember Hollingsworth, asked it because one thing that I've noted for the years is the need to help parents.

And I'm thinking of my own parents as they were trying to navigate the educational system when I was a kid.

But also what I've seen in Seattle, supporting different organizations, you know, the boards with my wife and just financially supporting them, those organizations that help the whole family because If the parents don't understand, you don't have that extra.

I mean, I had the broader push from my parents, you know, as I've said before, I was asked a million times when my dad came to America and I would always say education, education, education.

But that's hard to then go from that kind of strategic kind of, you know, main point to getting into the details and assisting parents to help their children at home to kind of double down on the learning.

is really important.

So I'd like to thank Councilmember Hollingsworth for asking my question.

But if you'd like to speak to that any more, but anyways, thank you very much, Dr. Director Chappell and team.

Thank you.

Thank you, council member.

Um, and, and as, as you've heard, and yes, we are very committed to making sure that we engage parents and families early and as soon as possible and meeting the diverse needs of our community.

And that's something not only that we value that we're going to continue, uh, to do, because as you just mentioned, or was it council member soccer or maybe council member Hollingsworth I heard, and we know that it starts at home.

but parents are the first teachers.

And so as much as we can support parents and continue to make sure that families have what they need in order for their young people to thrive, we're gonna continue to do it.

So thank you for what you shared.

Thank you for, um, uh, thank you to, uh, council member Kettle for the question.

Thank you, director Chappelle for answering.

I will say, um, uh, council member Hollingsworth and council member Kettle on the digital piece.

I am confirming that the city through the IT department has an investment in digital equity for youth.

They have about 125K investment, but that's just more to say that we are because we have seen this in the schools and there was an article in the Seattle Times either earlier this week or last week, all the weeks seem to roll together here at City Hall.

talking about the, in Seattle Public Schools, a lot of the schools now are requiring the kids to put their phones away during the classroom, so they'll have either a cubby or one of those hanging, they have one of those hanging shoe racks, and then they put their phones in there, and they've seen really great, we're almost at the end of this first school year, they've been doing this since the start of the school year, they've seen really great progress, What are kids doing when they're not on their phones at school all that time?

They're better engaged in the classroom.

They're doing things like knitting and other activities that are not focused on social media.

And so these are really, thank you for raising these.

These are really important points and something that we need to continue to support.

but you know, I always like to give folks information and I wanna give proper information.

So I thought I remembered something and I wanted to give that, you know, wanted to make sure that we knew that the city is making those investments.

Cause there's so much that the city does for youth, not just FAP levy related.

There are many other investments that we make in support of youth at the city.

And I'm really proud of those investments.

Okay, Councilmember Rink.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Director Chappell, Dr. Fajardo, and Ms. Roussel for today's presentation.

I'll join in the chorus and just take a moment to commend the work at DEAL.

What is clear is that these are critical investments and they're having a real impact in our community, so I want to say thank you again for this work.

And certainly I would say I know programs like these are tremendously important also because the impact that they've had in my own life.

And certainly I think we can all agree in this moment there is a tremendous need to be investing in our young people and working families, especially in light of these major changes happening on the federal front with the shutdown of the Head Start office.

I know I'm certainly thinking about more ways we can be investing in working families, supporting our young people during this time.

And to that end, I'm also thinking about, you know, I'm really excited to be working on this levy this year because it is so pertinent and ways that we can be engaging with our community partners.

And I'm mindful that we have a lot of levies at the city of Seattle.

We have a lot of levies at the county.

And I know on the county level, some may be familiar with best starts for kids.

And so I'm wondering if you could take a moment, as appropriate, to talk a little bit through what are some of the key differences there and how do some of those investments complement one another?

Yes, thank you.

So the Best Arts for Kids levy, as you mentioned, also invests, of course, in Seattle as part of King County.

We are two leading levies in the nation.

So both Seattle and the county participate in a professional learning community with the Children's Funding Project.

They'll actually be having their regional convening in King County later this spring.

And so these two levies are among the most comprehensive in the country.

Both levies span early childhood through post-secondary, both include supports for whole families.

And we do work closely with the county to ensure our investments are complimentary and not duplicative.

So we have started, for example, in the area of childcare, we're looking at which families are served by the state, which are served by the county, and then how can local resources pick up where that eligibility leaves off.

So there's always more to do to be in close alignment and ensure we're maximizing resources.

But I think in general, the key takeaway is that regionally we're national leaders and We need to be mindful of the fact that both levies exist and that Seattle voters contribute to both.

But this is really a success story.

Absolutely.

And I think the fact that our region is making these investments is a statement of values in itself and is something we should be tremendously proud of.

and celebrate and hope that we continue to make those investments.

And I'm affirmed here again, and knew some of this from some of the work that I've done historically with the county.

Again, this effort to make sure that these are complimentary investments and they're building upon another, I think is great to be able to communicate to residents.

And my second and final question is just wondering about coordination with our partners at the school district.

It's been a challenging year for SPS, certainly, and in many ways how I understand the investments with FEP.

They're complementary also to the work of the school district.

So can you speak a little bit more about the coordination with the school district on levy development?

Yeah, so that's a great question.

Just want you to know that we are in close partnership with Seattle Public Schools.

Everything from central office to the superintendent to his cabinet, all the way down to the...

the building leaders.

We have frequent meetings with them, just looking at data, just making sure that our investments are in the right places and trying to be as intentional as possible.

So the coordination is there.

We've been doing it for quite some time.

And we always look for ways to figure out if there are anything else that we need to tighten up on because we know, or should I say what we've learned, that is not just solely the responsibility of the individuals in the building, it's really about the partnerships and figuring out how we can strengthen every angle.

So all I have to say is that we're in close communication and partnership with Seattle Public Schools.

AMAZING TO HEAR AND THANK YOU AGAIN.

REALLY EXCITED TO BE LOOKING AT WAYS WE CAN EXPAND OUR INVESTMENTS THIS YEAR INTO WORKING FAMILIES AND TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER RINK.

AND I WILL SAY THAT THE FEB LEVY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HAS, SPS HAS A SEAT AT THAT TABLE.

AND I KNOW ALSO THAT Dr. Director Chappelle was also Principal Chappelle at Rainier Beach High School before he was director at Deals.

So he's got really great partnerships that he has made over the years at Seattle Public Schools and we benefit from those partnerships.

So thank you for the question and I am really happy that we have someone at the helmet deal who has those strong partnerships with SPS.

And then also I wanted to give you accurate, I'm getting information in real time colleagues.

So the investment in the digital piece is actually a $270,000 investment.

And then I also wanted council member Kettle to address the pathways to Seattle Fire or Seattle Police.

I will say that our own chief, Harold Scoggins, our fire chief, he worked with the colleges to create a curriculum, and Dr. Chappelle was involved.

And again, we all worked together in 2018. And so the Seattle Colleges actually has a certificate program if kids want to be firefighters.

I'm really proud.

Chief Scoggins did such amazing work with that, so that is a pathway.

And then in terms of SPD, it's a little different because you know, Councilmember Kettle, the SPD, the academy is statewide, it's not local.

And so there have been a lot of conversations about how we build a pathway.

But I do know that HSD and Seattle Police Department partners together every year to host an internship program for Seattle Public School youth.

And so that is happening.

And I know this is something that I personally raised with the chancellor recently.

as part of my outreach on the levy in general and just hearing about the partnership with Seattle Public School, I mean Seattle Colleges and the city.

And I raised this with the chancellor and I know that there is There's, I think, opportunity there.

And Dr. and Director Chappelle, were you going to say something about this?

Okay.

So all of that is happening, Council Member Kettle, just to address that piece, because it is an important piece.

And these are really great jobs that kids could be entering.

and there are really great opportunities and there are spaces where I just heard Chief Scoggins yesterday, we were together on a community walk and he, you know, there is a need for more firefighters, just like there is a need for more officers at SPD.

So this is really a great piece.

Thank you for raising it, Council Member Kettle, in terms of the trades component of the Promise Program as well.

So, okay, Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Chair, and also wanted to echo Councilmember Saka's comments about your leadership on this, and thank you for all the work that you've done, all the groundwork that you've done and will continue to do through this.

I always learn so much from you, so thank you for that.

And also thank you to all of you for being here today and the briefing that we had.

I have two questions.

So one is I understand that Governor Ferguson has in his proposed budget eliminated all the funding for early ECAP as well as additional 1500 part-time ECAP slots.

So I'm wondering what impact that might have on CCAP and whether we should be looking at trying to potentially fill that gap in the levy.

And if you need to get back to me, that's okay.

I think what we can share today is that our preschool model does blend funding with HeadStar and ECAP.

So any reduction in funding to those programs would mean we need more city investment to support the same amount of children in the city.

So we'll know more, of course, as the state legislature finishes their session, we continue to monitor federal policy changes, budget changes.

And I think the select committee timeline is well positioned for us to be responsive to that.

Excellent, thank you.

And my other question is, I noted that in your slide here, you say that the student utilization of the school-based health centers has increased by 15%, which is fantastic.

I read that both ways, like that's great, we got more people, and also, well, we have more people.

So my question there is, is it possible to expand the scope of service that's offered through the school-based health clinics?

And if so, is there enough money currently allocated in the levy?

Is that something that we should be looking at?

Yeah, I would say I will share more about that in subsequent presentations and then also just remind the council recently that payroll expense tax funds were allocated to increase staffing at middle and high school, school-based health centers.

Those professionals are currently being hired and those services are starting to be available in schools.

But are those limited to certain, they're not across the board, correct?

The funding that was adopted as part of the last budget cycle was for all middle and all high school school-based health centers.

So just clarifying, does every single middle school have a school-based health center?

No, every school...

There is currently, in fact, 29 school-based health centers in Seattle.

We have maybe 14 high schools, maybe eight elementary, and maybe around seven middle schools.

But to answer your question directly, no, every school, every middle school in Seattle Public School does not currently have a school-based health center.

There's currently five middle schools that do not have a school-based health center.

Okay.

Sorry, Council Member Moore.

I also wanted to say that a couple of points here.

Every levy has prioritized expanding school-based health centers with the goal of having a school-based health center at every school.

So with every levy, there's been an investment to add more school-based health centers.

So I'll just say that.

So FAP had that as well.

The school-based health centers themselves offer a myriad of services and also depending, like at the high school level, they really have robust and we can talk offline what the services are, but they really are robust.

And now they also offer out of the school-based health centers, the mental health investments that were added.

And so, And the other piece that's important also, because I've had the same question too, what about the kids at the schools that don't have a school-based health center?

They can utilize a school-based health center at a different school.

So that is also, so like the schools can provide access to that child at a different school.

And then the other piece that I think is important, because I've raised with Dr. Chappelle in the past is, you know, are we educating folks?

Most kids have AppleCare and they have access to healthcare via the AppleCare.

So we wanna make sure that that is being utilized.

This is a public health piece so that kids and families aren't just relying on these school-based health centers.

Most of these school-based health centers are during school hours.

So if something happens during the school day, it's great to have them there.

And then of course, for our high schoolers in particular, Because of the confidentiality piece, it's really important that all these high schools have school-based health centers and that's why they were prioritized to be added to high schools first and then expanded in the middle and elementary piece.

But this is something that is every levy has expanded these services at the schools and any kid in a school that doesn't have the service can utilize a service at one of the other schools that does have the service.

And I can't speak to the public health piece, but I would love to know how they make sure that parents and families who have AppleCare are getting that access to services, because this is not meant to be in lieu of a child going to a regular physician, for instance.

Sorry, I hope that answers some of your questions.

No, that's very helpful to know that.

I guess I just think that we should be, you know, there are going to be significant cuts to Medicaid which affects Apple Health, right?

And so I think one of our responsibilities as a local jurisdiction is to the extent that we can fill those gaps and we are going to be called upon more and more to fill the gaps.

at the state and federal level.

So here we have an amazing opportunity.

So perhaps we need to be a little bit broader now than we would have been three months ago in terms of the way we're thinking about clearly school-based health should not be replacing an actual GP, but we are entering at different times.

But it's helpful to be aware of that.

And the other plug that I would make for the mental health dollars, I know this is little bit off base but to Council Member Hollingsworth point which is I think that so much of what's contributing many a significant part of what's contributing to the mental health challenges and crisis that we are seeing amongst our our children our middle schoolers our teens is related to the corrosiveness of social media and that creates a mental health component, and I would really like to see some focus in the mental health counseling and therapy that goes beyond just digital literacy.

That's, to me, a different issue, a different challenge, but really to talking about how how do you incorporate this in a healthy way?

How do you deal with cyber bullying?

How do you deal with all these other challenges that really are pushing our kids to deal with mental health issues that we've not seen really before?

So that's just my plug for that money.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Moore.

And council member Moore, I've talked to Deil about the mental health investments and we'll hear at a later time how that investment is going.

I know, um, I can say though that the, um, It is being utilized.

It can be utilized even more.

So talking to Deal about, I know Public Health was supposed to do, I think it was Public Health Director Chappelle, a campaign.

There's a campaign being envisioned to make sure that kids know that there's access to mental health services in the schools versus, and also online via the June contract that the city has with that provider.

How do we make sure that these kids know that they have access to these mental health support services for the very reason you're talking about?

And so more to come on that.

But we do have the investment.

We have capacity.

It's not we are not exceeding our ability to serve children.

The issue is now making sure that the kids know that it is available and encouraging them to utilize it.

So thank you.

We are aligned.

Council Member Saka.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Just want to quickly offer some perspective on a line of discussion that occurred earlier.

I think between my same colleague, distinguished gentleman from Queen Anne, or Queen Anne, Council Member Kettle, and then Dr. Director Chappelle's comment that I think you said something along the lines of early childhood education starts at home, which, just for clarity, I couldn't agree more.

And I also want to emphasize, everything I'm about to say now is intended to be complementary to and supplemental to that line of discussion.

And I couldn't agree more with the essence of everything that was mentioned.

And absolutely, people who choose to be parents have a responsibility for their own kids and taking care of their own kids and doing their best they can to raise them.

And at the same time, you know, I'm coming at it, for me personally, from the perspective of someone who, you know, experienced poverty in a variety of circumstances.

as a child.

And I know what it's like, for example, to go to bed hungry.

I know what it's like to not go to school, preschool or otherwise, for the sole benefit, for the primary purpose of receiving services, whether that's supports or food or a free bill, whatever, as opposed to education as the primary purpose.

So I know what that's like.

And I haven't done that, experienced that, gratefully, as a parent.

My oldest is 10. But I do know, as someone who is the son of a Nigerian immigrant and someone who is the son of a frontline warehouse worker, working all hours in very laborious, time-intensive jobs and, like, very stressful environment, many people experiencing poverty and living at the edges of poverty, many immigrant and refugee, people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds, black and brown communities, BIPOC, I hate that term, BIPOC, they're exhausted.

We're exhausted at the end of the day.

Our experiences are not the same as everyone else's.

Coming home from a...

my dad, for example, coming home from a, you know, 10, 12-hour shift at the warehouse from 4 p.m.

till 2 a.m.

or whatever, he's not necessarily checking up on my homework all the time.

Not reading to me.

Those are proven best practices and strategies that parents can do to support their child's children's learning.

So many of these people from immigrant refugee communities, black and brown communities at the bleeding edge of poverty are exhausted.

They're trying to figure out how to put food on the table and make ends meet.

And now we have the added layer of exhaustion many communities are experiencing with this new administration.

Scared to death to look on social media, open the New York Times, Seattle Times, learn about what's the latest, greatest thing that's happening and how it's gonna impact my family.

That's why I believe firmly in my head and in my heart The number one most impactful thing we can do to support all communities, especially those most historically marginalized and disadvantaged, are to provide affordable and accessible childcare and preschool for all.

So...

again, parents have a responsibility, absolutely.

We can make it easier.

and acknowledge the different experiences that we all have as part of that process.

So just some friendly perspective.

The next thing I'll just wanna note is, couldn't agree more plus one on Council Member Moore's observation about the importance of youth mental health.

Critically important now more than ever.

I think, As a general proposition, it's just important that we look after the behavioral health of our youth.

They are our future.

And there are a number of societal factors beyond our direct span of control that contribute to declining or a more vulnerable state of mental health with youth, including social media company influences, among other things.

One thing I think we also need to be candid and serious about, a unique factor here in the city of Seattle that I think is no doubt contributing to declining mental health of our youth is the protracted closures of schools in the city of Seattle during COVID.

When schools across the state were opening up left and right Schools across the country, East Coast, Midwest cities, putting aside the South, like they were open the whole time.

I don't think they care really about COVID or what it means.

But when schools across the state were opening up left and right, it took an order of the governor of the state of Washington to order schools to open up in Seattle for four days a week, in person, or it might have been two, I can't recall.

Let's just say for the sake of argument, four days a week and two hours a day, and then the rest could be remote.

And there was a minimum compliance standard in the city of Seattle.

So COVID apparently was worse in the city of Seattle than other parts of the state, other parts of the country.

Not true, by the way.

And what kind of impact does it have on people's mental health?

Not good.

So societal factors contributing to the need and the imperative for us to invest in youth mental health, and there are some Seattle-specific things that we're gonna be reckoning with in the near term now, and then for generations to come.

So I just wanna name that.

It is what it is.

Now we have an opportunity to provide solutions.

Better address that.

Finally, plus one to the digital skilling initiatives that I think Council Members Hollingsworth and Kettle both noted.

We need to get more people in these high-tech jobs.

I had the privilege of working in big tech, worked for Microsoft, Meta, and those are big employees, great, or employers, great opportunities for their employees to earn high-wage jobs on the cutting edge of technology, building the future.

intangibles, the economy, the intangibles.

But many of those workers aren't from the city of Seattle.

Many of them don't look like me, to be more blunt.

And the Reverend Jesse Jackson has been championing effort in the tech industry for over 10 years to increase representation.

famously saying things like, we need more people from Chicago and Oakland to have these jobs.

And right now, there's a lot of reliance on H-1B visas and everything.

So we need to empower more people with the opportunity to have these jobs and more people locally.

So that's why we need more people from the central district, more people from the south end, more people from High Point.

And we do that by investing in digital skilling initiatives and 270,000, if that's the current total, that is a wholly subpar and insufficient investment amount to reflect the opportunity in my view.

but just wanted to share those observations and then offer that perspective as well.

So thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, council member Saka.

And I will say that was, I don't know that that's a full investment.

That's what I know of that we quickly, while we've been in this meeting, there could be more investments in other departments that we're just not aware of.

But I think this is director, a cue to you all to please look up across the city.

because there are other investments, like I said, that are outside of the levy.

We're just talking about the levy investments today, not any other investments the city has.

And so this is something that we should look up, though, and provide a better response to my colleagues, please.

Thank you, Director.

Colleagues, I don't see any other hands up.

So I think, seeing no further questions or comments, this concludes the April 10th, 2025 meeting of the Select Committee on Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy.

I will say colleagues that again, thank you for being here.

Thank you for your really great questions and comments.

It's really clear to me that we are all aligned in support of our children and students here in Seattle.

And I am really appreciative for your partnership on that.

I know I've had at least two conversations with you all related to the levy starting in January because I wanted to make sure we had early and more touch points.

And we will have more once obviously the levy gets transmitted, which will be transmitted I think April 23rd.

And then in terms of the next committee meeting, we're working with the clerk, the city clerk.

There might need to be some changes based on the schedule for the select committee for the comp plan and some land use committee meetings that we need to have in preparation for taking Um, the vote on HB 1110 for the comp plan.

So I'm working with, um, uh, the, the clerk's office as of yesterday to try to, um, make sure that we're able to do all these things concurrently and there might be some shifting, but not to worry.

We are looking at all your committees that you, um, sit on, uh, colleagues to try.

to do the best that we can as we need to do these both select committees concurrently because we need to take votes on both of these things in short order.

So more to come on that.

Thank you for your flexibility ahead of time on if we need to make any changes to the schedule.

All right, thank you, Director Chappelle for being here and for your team, all of your team, those in the audience who came to provide support as you were presenting.

And if there's no further business, this meeting will adjourn.

Hearing no further business, it's 12.35 AM and this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you, colleagues.