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Supervisors Continue Early Childhood Office Proposal after Mayor—s Office Update
Summary
The committee heard a briefing on a proposed independent Office of Early Childhood Education that would consolidate services across departments and transfer five staff positions from existing agencies; the item was continued to the call of the chair for budget transfer details and public review.
Chair Carmen Chu opened the Budget and Finance Committee hearing and called an early update on a proposed Office of Early Childhood Education. Supervisor David Campos Avalos (referred to in the transcript as Supervisor Avalos) and a mayor—s office representative outlined a plan to consolidate early-care functions now housed in multiple departments into an independent office.
The mayor—s office representative said the proposed governance would include department heads from the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), the First 5 Commission, the Human Services Agency (HSA), a mayor—s office representative and the superintendent from San Francisco Unified School District. The office would be led by a director supported by five staff positions (three policy planners, one community engagement staffer and a junior policy planner) and an assistant; the proposal anticipates transferring those positions from the contributing departments and shows those changes in the mayor—s budget as revenue-neutral.
Officials said the office would maintain existing departmental authorities while providing cross-departmental support through an advisory council; the committee discussed reviewing CPAC and other advisory structures to ensure the council represents the larger early-care work across departments. The mayor—s office representative said community outreach plans will depend on the final governance and staffing decisions and that the school district will be folded into planning ahead of HSA—s budget presentation in mid-June.
A brief public comment period included one speaker who offered general praise for early education; no substantive objections were raised. Supervisor Avalos moved to continue the item "to the call of the chair" so the committee can consider the transfer-of-functions alongside the HSA and DCYF budgets and the transfer will return with specific budget documents.
The committee did not take final budget action on the proposal at this meeting. Next steps: staff indicated they will coordinate with the budget director to present the transfer and staffing details with HSA and DCYF budget materials when the committee considers those departmental budgets.
