§ 5.13

The Board of Supervisors hereby establishes an Early Childhood Community Oversight and Advisory Committee (“EC COAC”). The previously established Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee is hereby abolished.

(Added as Sec. 5.120 by Ord. 261-14, File No. 141123, App. 12/19/2014, Eff. 1/18/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)

The EC COAC shall make recommendations to the Department of Early Childhood (the “Department”), established by Chapter 2A, Article XXIII of the Administrative Code, regarding the Department’s mission of providing early care and education for children ages zero to five in San Francisco and other City departments involved in early care and education initiatives. The EC COAC shall also advise the Department on developing the Department Strategic Plan for expanding high-quality early care and education in San Francisco, as described in Section 2A.310 of the Administrative Code, and offer expertise in the areas of policy, planning, collaboration, and strategic partnerships. In collaboration with the Children and Families Commission (the “First Five Commission”), the EC COAC shall provide input and recommendations to the Department regarding overall strategies, policies, and procedures for the Department. The EC COAC shall provide analysis, guide design engagement processes, and make recommendations to the Department, the Mayor, and the Board of Supervisors regarding use of funds for the Early Care and Education for All Initiative, described in Section 20.17-1 of Article XVII of Chapter 20 of the Administrative Code, and the Babies and Families First Fund, described in Section 10.100-36 of Article XIII of Chapter 10 of the Administrative Code.

(Added as Sec. 5.121 by Ord. 261-14, File No. 141123, App. 12/19/2014, Eff. 1/18/2015; amended by Ord. 6-17, File No. 161081, App. 1/20/2017, Eff. 2/19/2017; redesignated and amended by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)

(a) The EC COAC shall consist of nine members. The Mayor shall appoint five members to hold Seats 1 through 5, and the Board of Supervisors shall appoint four members to hold Seats 6 through 9. Each appointment by the Mayor shall be effective immediately, but may be rejected by a twothirds vote of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days following transmittal of the Mayor’s Notice of Appointment to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

(b) Members of the EC COAC shall have the following qualifications:

(1) Seat 1: must be a parent or guardian of a child who is enrolled in a facility that provides early care and education services, which includes child care, early care, preschool, infant and toddlers care;

(2) Seat 2: must be a representative of the San Francisco Unified School District’s Early Education Division, or any successor to that division, recommended by the Superintendent of Schools to the Mayor. If the Superintendent of Schools fails to make a recommendation within 90 days of a vacancy, the Mayor may appoint a person to hold this seat;

(3) Seat 3: must be an early care and education provider that serves infants and toddlers ages zero to three;

(4) Seat 4: must be a family support provider, a provider or educator who works with children with special needs, a community member with expertise in early education, a member of the mental health community specializing in early care, a member of a philanthropic organization, which has an emphasis on early care and education issues, or a member of the business community with an interest in early care and education issues;

(5) Seat 5: must be a representative of an institution of higher education that specializes in early care and education;

(6) Seat 6: must be a family child care provider;

(7) Seat 7: must be a provider of early care and education at a community-based childcare center in San Francisco, but this member cannot be a San Francisco Unified School District provider;

(8) Seat 8: must be a family support provider, a provider or educator who works with children with special needs, a community member with expertise in early education, a member of the mental health community specializing in early care, a member of a philanthropic organization, which has an emphasis on early care and education issues, or a member of the business community with an interest in early care and education issues; and

(9) Seat 9: must be a representative of the Child Care Planning and Advisory Council (“CCPAC”) established by Article XX of Chapter 5 of the Administrative Code, recommended to the Board of Supervisors by the CCPAC.

(c) Each appointing authority may remove any of its appointees at any time with or without cause.

(d) If a vacancy occurs in any seat on the committee, the appointing authority for the vacated seat shall appoint a successor. For Seat 2, the EC COAC shall notify the San Francisco Unified School District of any such vacancies and, if the San Francisco Unified School District has not made a recommendation within 90 days of the notice, the Mayor shall appoint a successor.

(e) To the extent required by law, members of the EC COAC shall be subject to state and local conflict of interest laws, including the California Political Reform Act (Cal. Gov. Code §§ 87100 et seq. ) and California Government Code section 1090.

(f) Subcommittees. The EC COAC may establish subcommittees to be convened as directed by the EC COAC. The EC COAC’s Chair or the Chair’s designee shall appoint members to the subcommittees. Subcommittees shall report findings and make recommendations to the full EC COAC for its consideration.

(g) Advisory bodies. The EC COAC may appoint advisory bodies to advise it in the exercise of its duties, including but not limited to advisory bodies to make joint recommendations to the Mayor for appointment as Director of the Department and representing the perspectives of parents and guardians. Advisory bodies created by the EC COAC may include, in whole or part, individuals who are not members of the EC COAC, as well as members of the First Five Commission or CCPAC.

(Added as Sec. 5.122 by Ord. 261-14, File No. 141123, App. 12/19/2014, Eff. 1/18/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)

(a) Terms of Office. Members of the EC COAC shall serve for two years, except that the members initially appointed to Seats 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 shall serve for three years; thereafter, the members holding these seats shall serve for two years.

(b) Term Limits. No member may serve more than two consecutive terms on the EC COAC. For the purpose of these term limits, serving more than half of a term shall count as serving a full term on the committee.

(c) Transition from Previous Citizens’ Advisory Committee. Members of the previously established Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee seated as of the effective date of Ordinance No. 189-22 shall by operation of law become the initial members of the EC COAC. Their terms of office and term limits shall incorporate their service on the Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee, with the effect that their terms of office and term limits will be identical to what they would have been if the Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee had not been abolished. Similarly, their service on the Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee shall be considered in calculating compliance with the meeting attendance requirement in subsection (d)(1), below. With reference to subsection (d)(2), the bylaws of the Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee shall apply to the EC COAC until changed by the EC COAC, and the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Office of Early Care and Education Citizens’ Advisory Committee shall remain in those positions with the EC COAC until changes are made by the EC COAC in accordance with the bylaws adopted by the EC COAC.

(d) Meetings.

(1) The EC COAC shall meet at least four times each calendar year. Any member of the EC COAC who fails to attend at least half of the meetings held in a calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the committee.

(2) At its first meeting, the the [1 ] EC COAC shall select a Chair and Vice-Chair. The EC CAC [1 ] shall also adopt bylaws governing its meetings. Five members of the EC COAC shall constitute a quorum of the committee, and the affirmative votes of at least five members of the EC COAC are necessary to constitute approval by the committee.

(e) The Department shall provide administrative and clerical support for the EC COAC.

(Added as Sec. 5.123 by Ord. 261-14, File No. 141123, App. 12/19/2014, Eff. 1/18/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 189-22.

(a) The EC COAC shall provide policy recommendations on strategies, processes, and services to meet the Department’s goals and priorities consistent with the EC COAC’s purpose described in Section 5.13-2. In collaboration with the First Five Commission, the EC COAC shall develop policy recommendations regarding the Department’s coordination of services, policies, and planning strategies for early care and education, including:

(1) Addressing the continuous quality improvement of programs and capacity-building of providers [1]

(2) Developing recommendations for equitable, inclusive, culturally and linguistically appropriate services and innovations responsive to emerging early childhood needs.

(3) Developing recommendations for processes to ensure data and data systems are used for greater accountability of program outcomes, enhance learning internally, across investments, and across service sectors, and address persistent racial, diversity, equity, and inclusion gaps.

(4) Promoting public interest and awareness around issues facing young children and their families.

(5) Developing processes and structures that support organizations, communities, and public agencies to work together to advance the well-being of young children and their families.

(b) The EC COAC shall work with Department to develop and maintain the Department Strategic Plan, as described in Administrative Code Section 2A.310.

(c) The EC COAC shall advise the Department on the development of funding guidelines.

(d) The EC COAC shall review and advise the Department regarding its needs assessments, plans, funding allocations, evaluation of services, common data systems, processes for making funding decisions, program improvement and capacity-building of service providers, community engagement in planning and evaluating services, and any changes in expenditure plans during the fiscal year, but shall not have any approval authority over these matters.

(e) The EC COAC shall promote transparency for the Department’s budget, including, in particular, expenditures from the Babies and Families Fund, by holding a joint annual public hearing with the First Five Commission regarding the Department’s budget no later than February 14 of each year. The EC COAC shall review and provide a recommendation report of the Department’s overall annual budget expenditures. The EC COAC shall provide input to the Department on the evaluation plan for tracking the results of the City’s investments in early care and education.

(f) The EC COAC shall coordinate with the CCPAC to receive and incorporate CCPAC’s feedback and recommendations into EC COAC’s recommendations to the Department’s annual report evaluating the effectiveness of the Early Care and Education for All Initiative, required by Section 20.17-3 of the Administrative Code.

(g) The EC COAC may recommend candidates for Director of the Department to the Mayor and may hold a joint public meeting with the First Five Commission for the purpose of considering candidates.

(Added as Sec. 5.124 by Ord. 261-14, File No. 141123, App. 12/19/2014, Eff. 1/18/2015; redesignated and amended by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)

CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 189-22.

Notwithstanding Rule 2.21 of the Board of Supervisors Rules of Order, which provides that advisory bodies created by the Board should sunset within three years, the Board intends the EC COAC to exist indefinitely unless terminated by ordinance.

(Added by Ord. 189-22, File No. 220808, App. 9/8/2022, Eff. 10/9/2022)