Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Office of Education keeps Early Start funding steady; reports kindergarten‑readiness gains
Summary
Director Matt Smedo presented a $13.6 million Office of Education budget for 2025, reporting Early Start Columbus served 1,178 children this school year with about $6 million in funding, and that Early Start children outperform county and state peers on kindergarten‑readiness assessments.
Director Matt Smedo presented the Office of Education’s proposed 2025 budget and reviewed Early Start Columbus and other youth programming the office manages.
Smedo said the office’s 2025 budget is $13.6 million, nearly unchanged from 2024, and that the funding cycle for early‑learning programming follows the school year. He highlighted results from Early Start Columbus: during the 2024 school year the program served 1,178 children in partnership with 42 providers at a cost of a little over $6 million, and the program’s kindergarten‑readiness assessment (KRA) results showed Early Start children outperforming Franklin County and state averages in several measures.
Why it matters: Early…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
