Office of Education keeps Early Start funding steady; reports kindergarten‑readiness gains

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 learning and after‑school programs underpin longer‑term education and workforce outcomes, city staff argued, citing research linking high‑quality early childhood programs to higher graduation rates, reduced juvenile crime and improved lifetime earnings.

Details and context -Early Start Columbus serves children the city sponsors through a network of 42 providers; Smedo said 100% of Early Start participants are low income and that the program’s KRA performance exceeded county and state averages in both top‑band readiness and reductions in the lowest band. -The Hilltop Early Learning Center — the office’s municipally supported center — is in its second year, with 11 classrooms serving about 180 children; the office said Nationwide Children’s Hospital provides an on‑site medical suite that handled hundreds of primary‑care and dental appointments for children in the center. -The office runs a newly launched middle‑school after‑school collaborative, a traditional after‑school grant program that serves about 2,200 students, and summer Early Start programming; Smedo described a strategy to braid city funds with state and federal subsidies (Title XX and early‑childhood expansion funds) so city dollars act as “last dollar” to reach quality funding levels. -Smedo reported no new funding requests for 2025 and emphasized the office’s approach to using city funds strategically to leverage other funding sources and to build a data‑sharing collaborative among providers.

Discussion highlights -Council members praised the program’s outcomes and asked about long‑term financial sustainability for Hilltop and capacity to scale the middle‑school collaborative; Smedo said the office plans to braid city funding with subsidies and philanthropic grants and focus on using data to demonstrate outcomes and attract outside funding.

Ending -Smedo closed by noting program successes, the role of providers (including small minority‑owned centers) and the office’s aim to continue expanding evidence‑based early‑learning and after‑school offerings while keeping the 2025 request largely level with 2024.