Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education
The Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education (the Commission) is comprised of Virginia legislators and representatives of business, economic development, local government, school divisions, parents and early care and education programs. The Commission is charged with providing recommendations for and tracking progress on the financing of Virginia’s comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education system.
Commission meetings are open to the public. Meeting information is available below.
As outlined in legislation, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation provides for the facilitation of the Commission. Questions may be directed to the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) at info@vecf.org.
History of the Commission
The Commission was established in § 2.2-208.1 of the Code of Virginia by the 2023 General Assembly via House Bill 1423/Senate Bill 1404.
The Commission has the following powers and duties outlined in :
- Expand access to and the quality of child care statewide;
- Analyze existing and potential new financing opportunities, with a focus on data-driven outcomes;
- Retain, grow, and strengthen the quality of the ECCE workforce;
- Gather and study information and data to accomplish its purposes;
- Gather and analyze data on current and projected availability, quality, cost, and affordability of ECCE services; determine needs and priorities; and develop funding recommendations focused on family choice, access, affordability, and quality;
- Annually report on specific expenditures, outcomes, and impact, including children served, demographics, child-level assessments, classroom-level assessment data, educator turnover and retention, and parental employment;
- Support the development of an integrated early childhood longitudinal data process to capture and link access, quality, and educator data with child outcomes, and facilitate the integration of this data with other longitudinal data systems; and
- Monitor and support ongoing research and evaluation conducted by VDOE, UVA, and VECF, and any other higher education or research institutes deemed relevant, to continuously improve ECCE quality.
The Commission meets at least 4 times annually and will submit a report with its recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1 of each year. Reports will be posted on this webpage as they are available.
2024 Meeting Schedule
2024 Dates Announced: July 22, August 19, September 11, October 9, and November 1. Additional details will be posted as they become available.
Meeting information will be posted on this website and the Commonwealth Calendar.
Commission meetings are open to the public. Meetings will not be livestreamed; however, a recording will be posted to this website after each meeting.
Oral public comment will be accepted during each meeting. Members of the public may sign up for public comment on-site. Written public comment will be accepted via email to info@vecf.org; each entry will be read and monitored on a daily basis (M-F) though responses to individual entries will not be provided.
2024 Commission Meetings
Meeting Date
Time
Location
Meeting Information
July 22, 2024
10 AM – 2 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
August 19, 2024
9 AM – 1 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
September 11, 2024
10 AM – 2 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
October 9, 2024
10 AM – 2 PM
Williams Mullen Center
200 S 10th St Richmond, VA
November 1, 2024
10 AM – 12 PM
Williams Mullen Center
200 S 10th St Richmond, VA
Referred Bill Study Group Meetings
Study Group
Meeting Date
Time
Location
Meeting Information
Study Group 1
August 20, 2024
August 29, 2024
9 AM – 10 AM
Zoom
Study Group 2
August 6, 2024
August 13, 2024
11 AM – 12 PM
1 PM – 2 PM
Zoom
Study Group 3
August 6, 2024
August 13, 2024
2 PM – 3 PM
4 PM – 5 PM
Zoom
Study Group 4
August 29, 2024
September 3, 2024
October 23, 2024
October 29, 2024
11 AM – 12 PM
11 AM – 12 PM
3 – 4 PM
4 – 5 PM
Zoom
October 23: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
October 29: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/
2023 Commission Meetings
Meeting Date
Time
Location
Meeting Information
September 28, 2023
10 AM – 2 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
August 29, 2023
10 AM – 2 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
July 20, 2023
10 AM – 2 PM
Reynolds Workforce Development and Conference Center
Commission Members
Non-legislative Members:
- Ashley Allen, Parent Representative
- Belinda Astrop, Chair, Greensville County Board of Supervisors
- Dr. Elie Bracy, III, Superintendent, Portsmouth Public Schools
- Jason El Koubi, President and CEO, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
- Simon Fiscus, Executive Director, Skyline Community Action Program
- Shakeva Frazier, Parent Representative
- Kathy Glazer, President, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation
- Edmond Hughes, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Huntington Ingalls Industries
- Sonnia Jones, Family Day Home Owner and Educator
- Kristin Kane, Founding Member, Decoding Dyslexia Virginia and National Center on Improving Literacy, Boston University
- Todd Norris, Senior Vice President of Community and System Advancement, Ballad Health
- Nicholas Palacio, Parent Representative
- Stacie Parham, Principal, Westview Early Childhood Education Center, Petersburg City Public Schools
- Benita Petrella, Owner, Primrose School of Midlothian Village
- John Salay, John Salay Consulting Services, LLC
- Travis Staton, President and CEO, United Way of Southwest Virginia
- Gary Thomson, Managing Partner, Thomson Consulting
- Stacie Vance, Educator, Van Pelt Elementary, Bristol Public Schools
- Kevin Wattles, Head of School, Grace Christian Academy
- Rachael Williams, Educator, Norfolk Christian School
- Elizabeth Randall Winkle, Senior Vice President CoStar Product, CoStar Group
Members of House of Delegates:
- Delegate David Bulova
- Delegate Ellen Campbell
- Delegate Mike Cherry
- Delegate Carrie Coyner
- Delegate Cliff Hayes
Members of Senate:
- Senator Adam Ebbin
- Senator Mamie Locke
- Senator William Stanley, Jr.
- Senator David Suetterlein
Ex Officio Members:
- Aimee Guidera, Secretary of Education
- Bryan Slater, Secretary of Labor
- Dr. Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction
