Approved Minutes — original pdf
Approved Minutes
EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, January 14, 2026 EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2026 The Early Childhood Council convened in a regular meeting on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 301 West Second Street in Austin, Texas. Chair Hamilton called the Early Childhood Council Meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. Board Members in Attendance: Chair Hamilton and Members Alvizo, Cárdenas, Freeland, Latham-Sikes, McCollum, McIllwain, and McNary Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Members Navarro, Sears, and Rivas PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL None present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Early Child Council Regular Meeting on November 12, 2025. The minutes from the Early Childhood Council regular meeting on November 12, 2025, were approved on Member Navarro’s motion, Member Freeland’s second on a 9-0 vote. Members Alvizo and Sears were absent at time of the vote. STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Staff briefing regarding Early Childhood Council bylaws revisions and updates from related local early childhood groups such as Austin Chapter of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children, Austin ISD, Success By 6 Coalition, Child Care Regulation, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area. Caitlin Oliver presented updates to the standard bylaw template for City boards and commissions and shared announcements from the Success By 6 Coalition about the January coalition meeting and from Child Care Regulation regarding updated forms for child care providers. Member Cárdenas, Austin ISD Executive Director of Academic Programs, gave an update regarding pre-K classrooms for the 2026-27 school year. 3. City of Austin early childhood budget updates. Briefing by Cindy Gamez, Austin Economic Development, and staff from Austin Public Health. 1 EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, January 14, 2026 Cindy Gamez, Austin Economic Development, and Laura LaFuente, Austin Public Health, presented an update on the 10% funding reductions made to the fiscal year 2026 social services contracts, referencing the City Manager’s December 17, 2025, social services funding update memo to City Council. DISCUSSION ITEMS 4. 5. Presentation regarding the Infrastructure Academy’s goals and child care assistance. Presentation by Megan Fortson, Infrastructure Academy Senior Director, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, with updates from Ann Eaton, Austin Economic Development. Megan Fortson and Ann Eaton presented information on what the Austin Infrastructure Academy (AIA) is, its current offerings to trainees, its funding for child care support for participants, and the program’s impact. Members requested information regarding the demographics of the participants and more information about an upcoming toolkit on supporting women in the workforce. Updates from Hilda Rivas regarding the implementation of Raising Travis County. Member Rivas gave an overview of Raising Travis County current activities, such as the upcoming community town hall, RFS for Out of School Time services, progress of the interlocal agreement with the City of Austin, and plans for child care provider focus groups. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 6. 7. 8. Possible action to appoint a fiscal year 2027 budget workgroup. The formation of the Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Budget Workgroup which will consist of Members Freeland, Latham-Sikes, Rivas and Barbara Grant-Boneta of the Success By 6 Coalition was approved on Member McCollum’s motion, Member McNary’s second on an 11-0 vote. The FY27 Budget Workgroup will draft the ECC’s budget recommendations to City Council for FY27. Update from Alejandra Mireles, Austin Equity & Inclusion, regarding the final report of the quality-of-life study of Austin’s families with young children conducted by Decision Information Resources, Inc. (DIR). Possible ECC action to appoint a workgroup to guide next steps regarding report recommendations. Alejandra Mireles shared updates on the timeline for releasing the quality-of-life study report and next steps for collaboration with City departments and commissions. Members discussed the ECC Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Workgroup to use the draft report to inform budget recommendations. Chair Hamilton requested that the final report be finalized and made available to the public prior to March 2026. Updates from the December Joint Inclusion Committee (JIC) meeting and possible action to appoint an alternate member of the Early Childhood Council to serve on the JIC. Member Alvizo was approved to serve as an alternate member of the Joint Inclusion Committee on Member McIllwain’s motion, Member McNary’s second on an 11-0 vote. 2 EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, January 14, 2026 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Members listed the following future agenda items: • Update and discussion regarding the impacts of the federal child care funding freeze and Governor Abbott’s letter to Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Health and Human Services about child care funding. • Update from Austin Economic Development on Chapter 380 agreements. • Presentation from Austin ISD about school closure plans and pre-K expansion plans. • Update from Austin Public Health and Austin Economic Development on the impact of the social services contract funding reductions. Chair Hamilton adjourned the meeting at 10:16 a.m. without objection. The minutes were approved at the February 11, 2026, meeting on Member Latham-Sikes’s motion, Member McNary’s second, on a 10-0 vote. 3