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Committee amends and advances $24–25 community initiatives package including summer literacy pilot and Miyawaki forest pilot
Summary
The committee amended and approved Intro 160, which allocates funds for district projects including a summer literacy academy pilot employing high school reading buddies and a $100,000 pilot to create a Miyawaki (urban) forest on a city‑owned vacant lot at Driving Park and Dewey Avenue.
The Budget, Finance and Governance Committee amended and approved legislation to appropriate funds and amend the 2024–25 budget to support several community‑based initiatives across council districts.
Council Member Patterson offered an administrative amendment to change a program eligibility phrase from “age 3 to 5 years old” to “entering the first, second, and third grades,” and the committee adopted the amendment before approving the package. The legislation (Intro 160) funds multiple district projects selected through local processes and partner organizations.
Council members described the summer literacy academies as a pilot to reduce summer learning loss and accelerate reading skills. Patterson and Vice President Harris said the model includes classroom teachers, paid high‑school students serving as “reading buddies,” meals and daily programming designed as a camp rather than remedial summer school. The presenters said sites were chosen for neighborhood density to reduce transportation needs; planners proposed roughly 45 children per site, 4–5 days per week for about five hours per day.
Council Member Monroe described a proposed Miyawaki forest pilot to activate city‑owned vacant lots and increase neighborhood tree canopy and biodiversity. Monroe said the proposal requests $100,000 in cash capital for a small‑scale urban forest using native plantings and intensive planting techniques pioneered by botanist Akira Miyawaki. The administration supported the pilot and staff identified a 10,000‑square‑foot site at Driving Park and Dewey Avenue (former Family Dollar site) as the preferred first location pending soil testing.
Other projects included a digital accessibility and food‑sovereignty proposal from the 490 Farmers initiative, Rochester Child First Network (supports home child care providers), Rochester Contemporary Arts Center programming, and a Southeast Area Coalition mobile tool‑shed program. Members said the Rochester City School District will provide buildings and teachers for the literacy academies; a local implementation partner will recruit children and paid youth participants.
The committee approved the amended legislation (Intro 160) in committee and moved it forward to the full council. Council members requested follow‑up information on in‑kind city services and historical in‑kind costs for festivals and events that appear elsewhere on the agenda.
