8/1/25 Members ONLY Update

Send ECEA a birthday gift: $40 for 40 years! https://theearlychildhoodeducationassociationofcolorado.growthzoneapp.com/ap/contribute/MrDkvQLx

Governor's Office Drops Plans for Capitol Pedestrian Bridge!! We told you....YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!!

The Denver Post shared that more than 82,000 people rejected the plans and Gov. Polis listened! Only 3,300 people said that they wanted it. GREAT JOB EVERYONE!! It's a good thing to demand fiscally responsible spending in Colorado!! The truth is, if we don't have the money for it we cannot do it! Every good business owner knows that to be true.

ARPA (Covid) funds gave the state government permission to build tons of new programs and to hire tons of new staff. I was in the meetings, hearing how CDEC was going to send that money as direct industry support to YOU. The plan went to the Governor's office and came back as indirect funds to you only if you met specific criteria through 15+ new government programs. NOW we hear "we need TABOR funds" so that we can continue to do these things we never could afford to do in the first place.

When Colorado passed TABOR, we passed it because we believed in small government. To authorize the release of TABOR surpluses (which are OVER COLLECTED TAXES) to the government means that you believe in large government. If you believe in large government then you like having the government tell you what you can and cannot do with your business.

Just something to think about.

Provide the flyer to your families. Let them know this is a Thank you from you as an ECEA member to them! Rumor has it that the new addition to the flyer will be there as a special guest!!

This will be an annual event, providing us with access to families with young children. From there we will be able to communicate with them to let them know what community based care means. We will also eventually connect them to YOU our members (ONLY)!!

The new school year is coming and CO has a NEW REPRESENTATIVE!

In 2023 our members saved over $103,000 on their purchases. When you purchase from Kaplan you get 15% off of current catalog prices on orders of $300 or more. Some exclusions apply. Orders of $750 or more receive free shipping.

If you run into difficulties accessing the discount, reach out to their Colorado Representative, Ellie Madden at [email protected]!

Colorado Pyramid

Tues/Thursday Evenings Virtual--Our Foundation does the training for anyone--Members get a guarantee...if your staff quits during the training, you get to send someone else within the next calendar year free of charge. NO ONE ELSE DOES THAT!!

Flyer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tqUBOzo53qLQKxP03fdAOX76OjDLyvYq/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112068139125283055161&rtpof=true&sd=true

Program Name

Student Name

Student Email

NEW: All Pyramid students (past and present will be invited to our Pyramid Community on our new platform. They will be able to support one another going forward with Pyramid approaches, questions, concenrs.!

They are saving members 10-35% off of Food Distributor Costs. Nail down your food costs to a per day/per child amount and earn rewards too! We have members saving $1,500 A MONTH!!

Watch it explained here: https://youtu.be/A0HFgWzBnAg

Did you know?? CO's Department of Education changed the Kindergarten Readiness Benchmarks to Align with their 2023 Requirements. Why it matters.

First, how can you change a standard without notifying people who are providing the education?? Second, it comes as an afterthought explanation when the numbers shifted downwards. In fact, there really isn't an apples to apples comparison anymore for UPK as compared to CPP. Interesting.

Want to read the Cap4 report? You can find it available for free in our Store on our new site.

(Not a surprise)

Request for Written Comments:

Proposed changes to the Rules Regulating Child Care Centers that Provide Less than 24-hour Care. These proposed changes will add rules regulating Outdoor Nature-Based Preschools (ONB) and update small child care center rules to allow for the care of infants and toddlers.

Documents for Review:

Please review the following draft documents:

Red-lined Copy: Public Comment #2 Red-lined Copy 2025-7-24 CCR 1402-1 Childcare Center-ONB.pdf
Clean Copy: Public Comment #2 Clean Copy 2025-7-24 CCR 1402-1 Childcare Centers-ONB.pdf

How to Submit Your Comments:

Please use the link to the online form to provide public comment:

Submit Comments at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_sLlGqf7AuQOgrN7W1khQdtO1Hy_2Sav-L7McgkCNTa0ybA/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=103470441599801217022

Please ensure your comments are submitted by August 4, 2025, at 5:00 PM Mountain Standard Time.

Some Callouts from ECEA:

2.235A2 After January 1, 2022, staff and children toilet facilities must be separate in new
construction, or a change of governing body. Church's will be most affected by this and it will start limiting the ability of programs to be placed in the community. This will have a negative impact on the overall capacity of the state for child care.

2.212K Within thirty (30) calendar days of employment at the center, each staff member must read and be trained, and have the opportunity to ask questions instructed about all licensing rules governing child care centers. Staff members must sign a statement indicating that they have read and understand the licensing rules. Note this is now a TRAINING requirement rather than a have them read kind of requirement. Phrased this way it will increase your training costs.

Small Center rules have been moved to page 52. Review them closely if it impacts you because all the text is in red.

Nature based programs finally have rules with this rule set!

2.243C In licensed programs operated by public school districts, substitutes may be from the sponsoring school system's list of approved substitutes. Substitutes who do not meet qualifications for the position that they are substituting for can be used up to ten (10) calendar days or eighty (80) hours per year. The dates and times must be recorded and made available for review at all times. Do not allow for the expansion of unqualified substittutes in public school settings. This would be nearly 27 times a substitute could work in a 3 hour UPK classroom without having to be qualified! That is outrageous and unfair for community based programs.

A Couple of Changes to Mandated Reporting Laws

First Five Years Shared This Out on 7/31/25:

If that passes it's a $340 MILLION increase for the child care industry nationwide.

NEWS

Plot Twist: Republicans Just Got Families More Money

Will the Republican budget bill spur more businesses to provide benefits like childcare?

With child care options tighter than ever, three dozen centers in Jefferson County get a funding boost

Child care advocates hope new state trust will help address Montana’s daycare crisis

Colorado has third-highest rent, fifth-highest home prices, zoning analysis finds

Enrollment freeze forces Colorado child care providers to cut programs, sell property

We need Community Based Engaged Parents to do this!

Child Trends, a national research organization focused on children and families, is putting together a Family Engagement Team to ensure that family voice informs Child Trends' ongoing process evaluation of CO UPK. Child Trends is seeking family members:

* whose child is or has recently participated in CO UPK in a center-based, school district, or family child care program

*from different parts of Colorado

*who represent a range of cultural and language backgrounds

You can read more about the evaluation here.

If you you would like to nominate a parent/caregiver - please contact the study team at [email protected].