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Council member seeks $135,500 increase for Downtown Hampton Child Development Center
Summary
A council member proposed increasing the city's annual contribution to Downtown Hampton Child Development Center to $135,500 to open classrooms and reduce an 87‑child waiting list; staff said the recommended budget mistakenly listed $120,000 and will be corrected where possible.
A council member presented an amendment requesting that the city's annual contribution to the Downtown Hampton Child Development Center be raised to $135,500 to support opening one or two additional classrooms and to purchase equipment and supplies. The council member said the center serves about 200 children annually, 81% from families near the poverty line, and reported an 87‑child waiting list; she cited performance tracking showing the center outperformed a similar demographic cohort on school‑readiness measures.
The city manager acknowledged an administrative error in the recommended budget and said staff had intended to reference $135,500 rather than the $120,000 currently shown; he said the city had increased funding but not to the full requested amount and that staff would explore adding at least one classroom depending on overall budget changes. No formal vote on the amendment was recorded during the afternoon session; council members asked staff to follow up with details for the evening meeting.
