Suffolk Early Childhood Development Commission Meetings

Date: July 07, 2021 Time: 2:00 to 4:00pm Location: City of Suffolk Health & Human Services Building 135 Hall Ave Suffolk VA 23434 3RD Floor Conference Room July 2021 Commission Meeting Members Present Members Absent Mark Furlo Gail Harrison Marie Baker Bonnie Maki Saniyyah T. Manigault Dr. Okema Branch Shawna LoMonaco Henry Dixon Carol Wilson Tamie Rittenhouse Lori White Gin Staylor Megan Mulvey Guest- Melvin Bradshaw Visitors I. Welcome–Shawna LoMonaco called the meeting to order. II. Review Minutes-The commission reviewed the minutes from June 02, 2021. Marie Baker made the motion to approve the minutes, Lori White seconded the motion. The vote to approve the minutes was unanimous. III. Coordinators Report: A. Child Care Numbers: Shawna LoMonaco reported there are currently 43 licensed child care locations and 13 unlicensed. The decrease is due to the closing of Ebenezer United Methodist Church preschool and Booker  T. Washington AlphaBest. B. Library Transition – ECDC’s final move took place June 28th. Library is providing useful assistance such as administrative duties and technological support. The PT position has closed. There is a total of 12 applicants and phone interviews will be conducted asap. C. LENA – Barb Lito will provide a LENA presentation and be available to answer questions at the August ECDC meeting. D. CLASS – ECDC will host a CLASS Fundementals training on Saturday August 14th at East Suffolk Recreation Center. Joetta Camp will provide the training. III. Other Business: A. Finance Report: The amount of $11,269.94 remained at the close of FY2021 IV. New Business: A. Lake Meade Kid Zone: Suffolk Parks and Trails Alliance: Non-profit to help Suffolk raise funds for trails and parks. It was proposed that ECDC form a committee to help raise funds for new playground, as in the past. The alliance can apply for grants that the City cannot. Mark presented proposals from three cooperative agreement bidders for new playground. Some members are interested in participating in a subcommittee to raise funds for a new park. Contact information of interested members was shared with Suffolk Parks and Trails Alliance members. B. Member Changes- Saniyyah Manigault-Westbrook will be replaced by Terrance Johnson, FSWIII from the DSS Child Care unit as the DSS representative. The Library representative will be change from Megan Mulvey to Sarah Townsend, Suffolk Public Library Assistant Director. V. Adjourn Our next meeting will be August 04, 2021