Connecting Us - Sustaining Progress (CUSP)

CUSP Education Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Bateman-Hall Board Room 1405 Foote Dr. Attendance: Michaelena Hix, Catherine Black, Tomm Larson, Aaron Johnson, Marie Giraud, Pat Tucker and Margaret Wimborne The Meeting was called to order at 6:45 Update on other CUSP committees: The Art committee is no longer together as they could not find a chair. The Transportation committee has not submitted anything yet about their recommendations, but hopefully they will soon. Overview of Format for the Final Deliverable Written Report: See attached Format Discussion/Amendments of the Final Interim Recommendations: There was a unanimous vote to combine some of our preliminary recommendations with a result of three recommendations. The bullets under each recommendation will be researched, revised, and adjusted by each sub committee. The overarching goal of these recommendations is to create a well educated and inclusive workforce for Idaho Falls' future. 1) Increase accessibility to, and develop resources for, lifelong learning *Update and expand the City of Idaho Falls Education Web page -Promote Idaho Falls as a community that champions and values life-long education -Advertise higher educational opportunities and link access to those programs and courses -Advertise K-12 Advanced Opportunities Program through local high schools -Develop a list of existing educational programs and arts that have current and active links to those programs, such as the Zoo, The Art Museum, ARTitorium, Museum of Idaho, STEAM classes, etc... *Restore funding to the library to support city educational opportunities through library expansion. -Explore options that allow students and teachers to access library resources from school or anywhere. *Establish a standing education committee to foster a relationship and partnership with local educational leadership that will address educational needs of the community. 2) Increase access to high quality early childcare and preschool opportunities that foster literacy and are limited for low and middle-income families.  *Support and Invest in high-quality early childhood education for low and middle- income families. *Draft and Send a litter of support for legislation to support full day Kindergarten. *Advocate and work with state policy leaders to support state-funded preschools. *Establish an exploratory committee to develop and find funding for a high-quality pilot preschool. *Literacy (this section of the recommendation still needs to be developed) 3) Improving Accessibility and support for higher education *Expand the Mayor's Scholarship Program -Identify and expand funding to support more post-secondary educational opportunities for students. -Allocate a portion of scholarship funding for first generation students from a family's household to attend a technical or traditional college *Procure a transportation system withing the city to University Place and College of Eastern Idaho for all residents. *Create more internships with the City of Idaho Falls Discussion/Division of Written Report Work: Recommendation #1- Margaret Wimborne and Tomm Larson Recommendation #2- Pat Tucker and Marie Giraud Recommendation #3- Catherine Black and Aaron Johnson *Michaelena Hix will be assisting each sub committee as needed and will develop a general statement for the overall goal of creating a well educated and inclusive workforce. Our next meeting will be Saturday November 14th at 10am at the Bateman-Hall Board Room Meeting adjourned at 8:03pm