In an effort to support local working families and provide more child care options, the City of Healdsburg is looking for a preschool program provider to develop and offer a new, low-cost full day program at the Healdsburg Community Center.
On Sept. 25, the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for preschool program providers. The deadline to submit an RFP is Oct. 24, 2021.
Healdsburg Community Services Director Mark Themig said the desire to create a licensed and affordable preschool program came from both city staff and local elected officials.
“It came up in two different avenues. The first is at a staff level — we’ve been talking about our current preschool program, which is not a licensed official preschool program, it is a program for preschool aged kids for early childhood development. We’ve been talking about the program for a number of years. It is very popular and it meets the needs of some members of the community,” Themig said.
“At the same time, we’ve also heard about the shortage of preschool programs, particularly for that missing middle category, and we started to talk about different options. At the same time, council talked about it as part of their goals to look at how we could continue to serve the entire community.”
On March 8, the Healdsburg City Council held a goal setting session for the 2021-22 fiscal year and among the many goals discussed was the desire to address the need for more early childhood care and preschool options.
Themig said the city’s current partial-day early childhood education program does not maximize use of the community center’s preschool space and it doesn’t meet the needs of all working families.
According to a 2019 report by the Child Care Planning Council of Sonoma County (4C’s) and the Sonoma County Office of Education, Sonoma County suffers a shortage of almost 5,000 child care spaces across all ages.
Child care financial assistance is also sparse. According to a 2019 report by First Five Sonoma County, 3,100 infants qualify for subsidized child care but only 445 spaces are available.
Themig said the preschool program will either be low-cost for everyone, or will have a sliding fee schedule.
“That’s one of the items that is requested in the RFP. The way it is framed is we are proposing to provide use of the facility at no charge,” Themig said. In addition, the city will pay for facility maintenance and utility costs.
In turn, it’s expected that the savings from not having to pay facility fees will go toward making the program low-cost.
“Our goal is to make it as affordable as possible for the community,” Themig said of the program.
The program would be a year-round program for children ages 2 to kindergarten age.
“The city’s goal is to have the program serve working families, as well as parents who are currently pursuing education and/training. Currently, Healdsburg has several preschool options that range from private, market-rate programs to fully subsidized programs. While the program would be open to all income levels, we believe there is a gap in preschool options for working families (sometimes referred to as the “missing middle”) making 100% to 161% of Area Median Income and we are targeting this program to meet this need,” according to the RFP.
The space that will be used for the program at no cost to the provider includes two 1,200-square foot classrooms each with restrooms and sinks, an asphalt play area, a garden, drop off and pick up area in front of the community center, outdoor turf areas and access to the facility kitchen and multipurpose room.
“The city has conducted a preliminary site visit with the State of California’s Community Care Licensing Division. In general, the classroom spaces appear to meet general licensing requirements with one child-size toilet and bathroom sink perclassroom and adjoining outdoor activity and play space,” according to the RFP. “The classrooms may need cosmetic improvements such as flooring replacement and painting, and the outside activity and play area will require installation of a shade structure. The city will work with potential service providers as part of the selection process to evaluate facility improvements and funding options.”
Themig said in addition to considering established providers for the program, the city will also accept and consider RFPs from preschool startups.
“We would consider a startup operation provided they have the criteria and they have the credentials and the ability to secure licensing,” Themig said.
In the next week, those interested in submitting an RFP will have the opportunity to join a virtual city meeting to ask questions and learn about the RFP process and to tour the preschool space at the community center.
“We want people to come and look at the site so the understand the opportunities and maybe some of the constraints we have and then we’ll hopefully receive a number of proposals and we’ll be able to review them in terms of the general criteria that we ask for, what are their experiences in providing preschool aged programs, what’s their approach ect. We want to make sure they have a focus on kindergarten readiness and we want to know how many preschool aged kids would be a good number for the space,” Themig said.
During the review process, Themig said they’ll do a compare and contrast of the different proposals.
“We would select a shortlist of providers, who we would meet with individually and talk more about, and then select a final provider to enter into negotiations with and really outline the program cost,” he said.
Themig noted that once an official full day preschool program is created, the half day early childhood program will still be held at the community center.
The community center is located at 1557 Healdsburg Avenue and was once home to Foss Creek Elementary School.
In 2008, the city purchased the site from the Healdsburg Unified School District.
To read the RFP or submit a proposal, visit the city’s website.
