Since she was appointed executive director of Every Child Parachute to Aspen, Samantha Markovitz has remained steadfast in one initial goal: getting community input on how best to support childcare needs in the region.
So earlier today, Every Child announced it’s forming a community advisory board to guide decisions for the early childhood tax district. That input will help inform how the district spends about $10 million generated from a .25% sales tax, including how it distributes funding to families and childcare providers.
“It is to act as a real-life testing ground to vet the concepts, inform the grants, direct the funding and create innovative ideas,” Markovitz said.
Applications are open until Sept. 10 for up to nine advisory board positions. Every Child wants the board to represent different geographic areas, with at least one member from the upper Roaring Fork Valley, midvalley and western Garfield County.
It’s also looking for a diverse set of people either impacted by the shortage or experts on early childhood in general. Markovitz said the ideal recruits would be parents of young children, childcare providers, educators, caregivers or local business owners.
“People who want to impact the entire early childhood system,” Markovitz said. “Not necessarily just coming at it from one perspective or point of view of like, ‘We're only going to help parents,’ or ‘We're only going to help five-year-olds.’”
When voters approved the tax district last November, they also elected five governing board members. The community advisory board, conversely, will not have voting power or direct control of the district’s budget.
At an Aug. 13 governing board meeting, Markovitz noted that starting the advisory board would delay initial fund distribution by a month. But she told Aspen Public Radio it’s worth it in the long run.
“We want to make sure that members of the public have looked at this interim funding structure prior to money going out the door,” she said.
Governing board members also weighed in on the proposal during last week’s meeting, with thoughts on how the new board would function with the existing one.
“Having an advisory board could set up some political push-pull,” said board member Amy Shipley. “Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it could in the future potentially be difficult to manage.”
During public comment, Stacy Petty, director of the Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Council, said she supported the advisory board idea.
“I think it's a great way to gather information from the region that Every Child covers, and I look forward to learning more,” she said.
Outside of the advisory board, Every Child is also soliciting community feedback informally, through “Popsicles in the Park” events this month in Basalt, Glenwood Springs and Rifle.
Markovitz said she’s met local nonprofit leaders, childcare providers and parents who’ve helped her better understand the realities on the ground.
“We're hearing from parents who are struggling to find childcare,” she said. “We're hearing from parents that say, ‘It's not affordable.’ But they're really excited to hear what the district is going to do, and they want to be more involved in the process.”
