Ashlyn Abney — Identified herself as being with the Office of Early Childhood.
Stacey Smith — Identified herself as Deputy Commissioner at the Arkansas Department of Education.
Denise Garner — Denise Garner is repeatedly addressed during the same meeting exchange, including being identified as the person asking a question and being thanked as Madam Chair, indicating a continuous chair-led discussion without a substantive topic change.
Denise Garner — Denise Garner is repeatedly addressed as Madam Chair during the same exchange, with brief acknowledgments and a continuation of the discussion as she indicates she will return to the queue.
Denise Garner — The speaker addresses and agrees with the Chair while discussing funding options.
Karilyn Brown — Representative Karilyn Brown was called on for questions and immediately asked for clarification on the numbers shown in slide two.
Karilyn Brown — Introduces questions about ABC funding and whether child enrollment is increasing.
Karilyn Brown — Representative Karilyn Brown is called on after the funding update and immediately thanks the chair and presentation before asking whether anyone is discussing additional funding for early childhood education.
Stetson Painter — Asked about the B5 grant topic timeline and advance notice for providers.
Stetson Painter — Referenced in connection with a question about retirement-related facility closures and what happens to seats/licenses.
Stetson Painter — Introduces a new question, shifting the discussion toward workforce issues and grant funding.
Stetson Painter — Representative Painter asks whether the SRA waiting list includes the recently lost $2.5 million or predates it.
Julie Mayberry — Julie Mayberry questioned whether the long-standing ABC funding level is adequate and pressed on the consequences of not increasing funding, asking what that would mean for the program’s stability and whether fewer children would be served.
Julie Mayberry — Julie Mayberry is referenced in connection with her prior question about average tuition rates, with both mentions pointing back to the same issue.
Julie Mayberry — Her concern about ABC funding not being increased is referenced by the speaker.
Julie Mayberry — Representative Mayberry apologizes for going off on other questions, thanks the presenters for the packet of information, and asks that the packet be emailed to all Education Committee members.
Julie Mayberry — Asked for clarification about the tech-enabled solutions pilot and why Grant County was highlighted.
Tony Furman — Asked about early intervention day treatment funding and why money flows through the agency versus DHS.
Tony Furman — Referenced as the source of a prior question about data on children entering public school from pre-K or child care.
DeAnn Vaught — DeAnn Vaught asked for the age breakdown of children on the wait list, specifically whether most were three- and four-year-olds, and continued pressing for the wait list numbers by age, referencing the handout question four.
Corey Waits — Referenced as part of prior conversations about workforce services and child care support.
Pam — Named in thanks at the end of the response; likely part of the discussion about the upcoming meeting.
Jamie Rayford — Jamie Rayford was introduced as the next witness and identified as the executive director of the Center for Early Learning Solutions at Forward, Arkansas. She explained her background in early learning and community/economic development, noted that Forward Arkansas is an education intermediary supporting policy implementation and classroom best practices, and previewed her presentation. She then described the landscape analysis her team conducted, including stakeholder engagement, and explained the center’s purpose: identifying, implementing, and elevating best practices to improve system performance through data and partnerships.
Edie Stewart — Edie Stewart is introduced and identified as the brand-new CEO of Forward, Arkansas, with the speaker noting that she is sitting in the room.
Molly Hill — Identified as Early Learning Initiatives Manager.
Danelle Hedrick — Identified as working in operations and analysis.
Ms. Abney — Referenced as having previously stated there are 23 local leads across Arkansas.
Ms. Abney — Referenced as having just discussed financial reasons for closure.