Stacey — Invited to come up and introduce herself for the record.
Stacey Smith — Introduced herself as Deputy Commissioner with the Department of Education/DESE.
Ashlyn Abney — Introduced herself as Education Division Director for the Office of Early Childhood.
Denise Garner — Representative Garner is addressed during a clarification exchange about the ABC slides. The speaker explains that the last slide reflects the proposed number of students the program would serve, clarifying the current-year versus proposed ABC slot numbers.
Denise Garner — A representative is directly addressed while discussing notice and communication before services are affected.
Julie Mayberry — Representative Mayberry asked for clarification on the last two slides and then followed up with questions about the market rate survey for SRA, including whether a new survey is being developed.
Julie Mayberry — Representative Mayberry resumes questioning about the differences between ABC and SRA requirements.
Julie Mayberry — Julie Mayberry raised the idea of using incentives and additional funding to support early childhood education, suggesting that if students meet certain benchmarks before kindergarten, extra funds could be provided to encourage educators and improve readiness.
Stetson Painter — Representative Painter participates in a budget discussion focused on developmental services funding. He first asks what level of funding would be needed to eliminate the waitlist, stabilize providers, and address workforce shortages, then follows up with questions about apparent discrepancies in the slides and whether the FY26 and FY27 funding figures are being read correctly.
Stetson Painter — Representative Painter gives a brief sports update and asks about the number of facilities not participating in either program.
Alyssa Brown — Representative Brown asked about child care facility participation in the SRA and ABC programs, specifically whether all facilities participate and whether any can participate in both programs or are limited to one or the other.
Alyssa Brown — Representative Alyssa Brown asked follow-up questions about ABC teacher certification requirements, specifically whether ABC requires a certified teacher and whether that requirement applies per school, per daycare/child care site, or per class.
Tracy Steele — Representative Steele asked how the office communicates with providers and parents, noting that constituents are not hearing updates and want to know what communication method is being used.
Tracy Steele — Representative Steele is referenced in connection with communication concerns.
House Management House Management — Praised for staying on top of the issue along with Madam Chair.
Andrew Collins — Representative Andrews was directly addressed and thanked for a suggestion, with the speaker indicating appreciation and implying Andrews could help relay information back to constituents and local providers.
Joy Springer — Representative Springer spoke in the context of the discussion about provider access and underserved areas, asking whether the state has a roadmap to expand providers. The later mention identifies Springer as the next speaker after the wait-list explanation, with no new substantive topic introduced.
Glenn Barnes — Representative Barnett was acknowledged as the next questioner and then asked for additional insight on the wait list, specifically whether there are caps on the wait list and how it is structured.
Ms. Abney — Referenced as leading a team that has evaluated grants and looked for waste and program alignment.
Steve Unger — The speaker addresses Representative Gardner while explaining that there is no perfect answer and discussing program priorities, ABC slots, and the tradeoffs involved in freeing up SRA funding.