Today, Mayor Jenny Durkan is releasing her 2020 Proposed Budget. This is the second year of the two-year budget biennium, and the proposed budget maintains core services while increasing investments in priorities like public safety, affordable housing, homelessness, transit and transportation safety, and opportunity and jobs for Seattle’s young people.

The proposed 2020 Budget for the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) totals more than $105 million and includes the first full year of Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise (FEPP) Levy funding as well as expansions to DEEL’s Sweetened Beverage Tax investments.

I wanted to share some of the highlights from the department’s proposed budget, including new and expanded programs and investments.

• Expansion of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP): The proposed budget more than doubles the level of investment in CCAP with an additional $3 million in funding. The budget provides major investments in increasing family access to vouchers, providing supports and incentives for providers, and adding staff capacity to the department to manage this growth in the program.
• Transfer of Upward Bound from Human Services Department (HSD) to DEEL: The proposed budget includes the transfer of the Upward Bound program from HSD to DEEL. Moving the program and staff will increase alignment with education resources, access, and the relationships that DEEL holds as the City’s education leader. At the same time, with the Seattle Promise program gearing up for its first full year of expansion into all 17 Seattle Public School high schools, integrating Upward Bound into DEEL will allow for direct access for students in the program to Promise.
• New FEPP Levy positions: The budget continues to invest in the capacity needed for DEEL to deliver on its mission and the FEPP Levy Implementation & Evaluation Plan. Three new positions are proposed through the FEPP Levy, including:
  • 1.0 FTE Public Relations Specialist, Sr, in the Strategy and Innovation Division to help make the public aware of the programs, services, and resources that DEEL offers.
  • 1.0 FTE Administrative Specialist II in the Early Learning Division to address needed support to ensure timely and customer-oriented operations.
  • 1.0 FTE Strategic Advisor 1, Exempt, to serve as the Early Learning Operations Data Analyst to provide support for the division’s continued work on Child Information and Provider System (CHIPS) as well as ongoing data management support.

Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s the proposed budget. Traditionally, the Council votes on final adoption of the budget in late November. More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget, and you can also direct any questions to jenny.durkan@seattle.gov.

In gratitude,
Dwane Chappelle
Director, Department of Education and Early Learning