Initiative Sustainability Task Force begins work

The new conference room at the Orcas Island Community Foundation was buzzing with excitement, as the ECE Initiative convened its first Sustainability Task Force meeting December 7.  Over the past four years, the ECE Initiative, comprised of educators from the three schools, education researchers and a small number of donors have significantly increased pre-school access and quality leading to improved kindergarten readiness for our children.

The new Sustainability Task Force,  facilitated by Jim Connell, met to begin the process of identifying and developing sustainable sources of funding for preschool access and quality in order to maintain and further strengthen kindergarten-readiness.

Total costs for the ECE initiative are estimated to be $125,000 per year: approximately $75,000 for the “quality component” and $50,000 per year for the “access component”.  The initiative’s Sustainability Task Force will be looking at public and private sources for these funds. (Contact Jim Connell to learn more about how you can help sustain quality preschool on Orcas.)

The following individuals will lend their expertise to work groups focused on pursuing specific pathways to sustainability:

Local community (private donors, organizations and foundations)

• Susan Anderson (Lead Communicator)

• Steve Jung (Advisor)

• Joe Cohen (Advisor)

• Amber Paulsen

• Teresa Chocano

• Tony Ghazel

• Kyle Carver

Public investments (county, state and federal)

• Travis Neal (Lead Communicator)

• Madden Surbaugh

• Eric Webb (Advisor)

• Rick Hughes

Regional and national foundations

• Jim Connell (Lead Communicator)

• Meagan Gable