St. Vrain outlines birth‑to‑3 pilot and volunteer plan for an early‑childhood service district

St. Vrain Valley School District staff presented a two‑site birth‑to‑3 child‑care pilot for district employees and heard a volunteer coalition outline a separate proposal to create an early‑childhood special service district that could seek voter approval in November 2026. The board did not take a formal tax or ballot endorsement during the study session.

The pilot proposal, presented by Laura Harris, assistant superintendent for preschool and community schools, would run two classrooms under the district’s Community Schools child‑care enterprise: an infant room (birth to 18 months) at Spark Discovery Preschool and a toddler room (18 to 36 months) at Mountain View Elementary, both operating roughly 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Spark infant room would start with a 10‑child capacity for the pilot, Harris said, and the program would follow the district calendar to align with staff schedules. Harris said the district will send an employee interest survey in September and expects a program start in August 2026 if the pilot proceeds.

"As a district, we recognize the growing need for additional child care options within the boundaries of St. Vrain Valley School District," Harris said, describing the pilot as "a direct investment in our educators and staff." She said licensing walk‑throughs have already occurred and that minor construction (for example, half walls for diapering areas) and equipment purchases will be required to meet birth‑to‑3 licensing standards.

A volunteer coalition calling itself the Early Childhood Alliance described a separate, volunteer‑led plan to form an early‑childhood special service district that would collect public revenue to subsidize child care, raise early‑childhood workforce wages and expand capacity. Tim Waters of the alliance said the group will do cost modeling and polling before bringing a full service plan and slate of proposed governing candidates to county commissioners; if commissioners approve sufficiency, the group would seek a spot on the ballot for November 2026.

Waters and coalition members emphasized system‑level funding gaps. He said a Feb. 2023 analysis placed the local funding gap for early‑childhood services in the tens of millions and that participation‑adjusted gaps grow as more children try to enroll. Waters referenced Title 32 (the Colorado statute authorizing special districts, amended in 2019 to include early‑childhood special service districts) as the legal pathway the coalition plans to use. "We have to present a service plan that includes a budget and the priorities funded by that budget," Waters said.

Coalition presenters and a provider partner, Matt Eldrick of TLC Learning Center, stressed broader economic consequences if affordable infant‑and‑toddler care remains scarce. Waters said, citing the alliance’s research, that earlier estimates placed the local funding gap at about $72,000,000 (Feb. 2023) and that lost economic activity in Boulder County because parents cannot return to work could total billions annually. The discussion also cited current local market rates: the presenters referenced average monthly infant care costs of about $1,668 in Boulder County and $1,239 in Weld County.

Board members and staff pressed for operational and fiscal details. Questions included how the pilot would be funded (Community Schools operates as a fee‑for‑service business that charges families and offers employee discounts and scholarships), whether tuition or sliding scales would be part of a district‑level ask, and how CCAP (the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program) funds intersect with the proposal. Coalition presenters acknowledged existing public funding streams but said current CCAP availability is insufficient and that Boulder County currently has a CCAP wait list numbering in the hundreds.

Several board members raised licensing, safety and special‑needs questions. Staff said Medicaid/insurance and existing special‑education pathways reimburse intensive early‑intervention services when families qualify, and the coalition said it plans to include a funding slice for children with special needs who fall outside other funding sources. Harris and partners said the district would generally identify needs and connect families to providers; direct therapy would typically come from Medicaid‑qualified providers contracted by families or providers.

Governance and political feasibility drew sustained attention. The coalition said its 2023 attempt to secure county commission approval for a service plan was blocked in part by commissioners’ resistance to creating another independent unit of government; presenters said they plan to return with polling data, a detailed service plan, and a slate of prospective board candidates if the district and local leaders indicate they will engage. Coalition members emphasized they are a volunteer group and not asking the district itself to place a tax measure on the ballot.

Board members voiced general support for pursuing more data and pilot results while asking the coalition to be explicit in public messaging that the special service district would be a separate entity from the school district. No board motion to endorse a ballot measure or to levy tax authority was made during the session. Staff agreed to continue planning the pilot, to distribute the employee interest survey in September, and to bring back survey results and cost/operational reports to the board before committing district funds or facilities.

Next steps noted in the session included: the district’s September employee interest survey; continued licensing and small construction planning at the two pilot sites; coalition cost modeling and polling; supplemental data pulls (for example, HR maternity‑leave aggregates); and planned outreach to Boulder and Weld county commissioners if polling suggests public support.

The study session was informational. Several board members indicated they would be willing to revisit a fully developed proposal after the coalition completes cost modeling and polling and after the district reports pilot survey results.