# Early Childhood and Development Committee Meeting | Dec. 2, 2025

**Body:** Buncombe County Government — Early Childhood and Development Committee
**Date:** December 2, 2025 1:04 PM EST (2025-12-02T13:04:02-05:00)

**Link:** https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535

## Summary

The Buncombe County Early Childhood and Development Committee met on December 2, 2025, to review the revised project plan for its Focused Investment initiative and to finalize guidelines for the upcoming fiscal year. The meeting focused on identifying strategic priorities for early childhood development, discussing funding sustainability, and preparing for a roundtable with other North Carolina counties.

**Key Decisions**
The committee took two formal votes during the meeting. First, the committee approved the minutes from the November 18, 2025 meeting. Second, the committee voted to approve the FY27 Grant Guidelines. Martin Moore moved to approve the guidelines with the reference to multi-year funding removed, and Jennifer Horton seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved.

**Discussion Highlights**
A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to refining the "Focused Investment Plan." Committee members explored various potential areas for investment, including infant/toddler development, pre-kindergarten programs, behavioral health support, and workforce development. Members noted that these investment levers impact one another; for example, they discussed how subsidy supplements could allow centers to raise staff wages. The discussion also addressed the need to identify current system gaps, consider impacts on current grantees, and address pay disparities between infant/toddler and NC PreK teachers. The committee considered using rank choice voting to reduce unintended consequences and creating a cost model that accounts for environmental factors.

Regarding the FY27 Grant Guidelines, the committee discussed sustainability, noting that it is not currently included in the scoring rubric. The committee requested that the reference to multi-year funding be removed from the guidelines, which was incorporated into the final approved document. Additionally, the committee discussed plans to host a roundtable in January with representatives from Wake, Mecklenburg, Forsyth, and Durham counties to discuss their early childhood investment strategies. The committee identified topics for this roundtable, including practical execution, roadblocks, recommended tools, and legislative priorities, and requested that a panelist with information on the Tri-Share model be included.

**Community Input**
There were no public comments at this meeting.

**Follow-ups**
Martin Moore, Adrian Sandler, Maya Sloan, Sarah Kabourek, and Jennifer Horton volunteered to serve on an engagement subgroup to develop an engagement plan. Heather Zanzig expressed potential interest in joining the subgroup and will inform staff if she can participate. Staff will gather additional information on specific topics raised during the meeting, including data on subsidy rates and workforce development initiatives. Committee members will prepare questions for the representatives from other counties scheduled to present in January.

**Impact**
These decisions establish the framework for Buncombe County’s early childhood investments for Fiscal Year 2027, which has up to $4,054,185 available for grants. The removal of the multi-year funding reference from the grant guidelines clarifies the scope of funding for applicants. The formation of the engagement subgroup and the upcoming roundtable with other counties aim to inform the committee’s strategic direction and ensure that future investments address critical needs such as the decline in family childcare homes, teacher recruitment and retention, and behavioral health support.

## Agenda

- [Approval of minutes from November 18, 2025](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535/item/24640)
- [Approval of FY27 Grant Guidelines](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535/item/24641)

## Votes

- Motion to approve by Adrian Sandler. Seconded by Jennifer Horton. — Passed
- Martin Moore made a motion to approve the Grant Guidelines with the reference to multi-year funding removed. Jennifer Horton seconded the motion. — Passed

## Video & Transcript

- Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVkQN78S63I
- Transcript: https://sunshinemeetings.org/transcript/228/segments

## Documents

- [supporting_2025-12-02_3.pdf](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535?document=15132)
- [minutes_2025-12-02.pdf](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535?document=15129)
- [supporting_2025-12-02_2.pdf](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535?document=15131)
- [supporting_2025-12-02.pdf](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535?document=15130)
- [supporting_2025-12-02_4.pdf](https://sunshinemeetings.org/event/535?document=15133)

## Sources

- [YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVkQN78S63I)