For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Montgomery County Council’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, will hold a public hearing on Executive Regulation 15-14 that proposes required procedures to be followed when the Office of Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF) manages the scheduling of before and after school childcare programs in public school facilities.
The HHS Committee, which is chaired by George Leventhal and includes Councilmembers Nancy Navarro and Craig Rice, will hold the public hearing in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The hearing will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be streamed at:
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council/ondemand/index.html
Maryland authorizes local school boards to allow day care programs to operate in public school facilities before and after school hours. It also requires local school boards to adopt regulations to implement the day care program in public school facilities. The proposed regulation implements a regulation passed by the County’s Board of Education in January delegated authority to the Interagency Coordinating Board for the Community Use of Public Facilities to schedule before and after school childcare programs in County public schools.
A joint meeting of the Council’s HHS and Education committees will hold a worksession on the proposal on Oct. 30.
In 1986, a process was approved to assist schools in selecting child care providers to serve students before and after school. CUPF would issue permits, manage the placement transactions and reimburse Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for costs associated with this use. Because the selection of providers at individual school sites did not reoccur on a regular basis, concerns arose regarding fair access to this public asset for the purpose of operating child care programs and the absence of choice by key stakeholders.
In 2007, a competitive rebidding process was established by the Interagency Coordinating Board to take place every five years to foster equal and fair access to shared space in schools and ensure consistency with standard procurement practices. MCPS provides space to approximately 120 before and after school licensed child care programs in shared school space.
Following a challenge to the periodic rebid process in 2012, the Montgomery County Circuit Court found that the resolution that established the child care selection process was not the proper legal instrument for authorizing the rebid process. The court instead found that the process needed to be accomplished through a regulation approved by the County Council. Authority to manage the rebid process also needed to be delegated by the County Board of Education, consistent with its authority under State law over day care programs in public schools.
In January 2013, the Board of Education approved Resolution 19-13 that delegated authority to the Interagency Coordinating Board for the Community Use of Public Facilities to schedule before and after school childcare programs in public schools. Since that time, County Government and MCPS representatives have worked on developing the proposed regulation, as well as implementation guidelines, with input from key stakeholders.
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Release ID: 14-315
Media Contact: Neil Greenberger 240-777-7939, Delphine Harriston 240-777-7931