Chair Gutiérrez asks about rate communication and provider feedback
Gutiérrez asks how rates were communicated and if providers feel it's fair. Liss explains providers were awarded seats and rates, and teams work with them on budgets and invoicing.
Thank you.
And the flat rates, it sounds like they're broken up into kind of four categories and then depending on like the cost of rent, for example.
Yeah.
Are those based on, are the flat rates based on kind of what is that determining factor besides the per student?
Is there anything, is it a different flat rate for a provider in Inwood who's doing extended day in her home versus someone in the Bronx?
The extended, there is no variation by geography, but the extended day and year rate is higher than the school day and year rate, reflecting that those programs offer 10 hours a day, 260 days a year, versus our school day and year programs are 180 days,
six hours and 20 minutes.
Okay.
And then the kind of how were those rights communicated to the providers, I guess?
Do they feel like this is fair compensation?
What can you share about those?
Like that amount.
Yeah.
So at the time that providers, so for existing providers who already contracted with the city for 3K and pre-K, they were able to express interest in offering 2K through a survey where they demonstrated that they had the capacity to add two-year-olds to their program.
New providers who did not previously contract with the city.
Completed a request for information and went through multiple phases to demonstrate their readiness to offer 2K.
And then at the time that the city was ready to move forward with providers, they communicated the number of seats that that provider would be awarded based on their capacity and demand in their area, and then the rate that the city was offering for those seats.
And then the team at New York City Public Schools has worked with providers to complete their detailed budgets, make sure that they have costs allocated in all the right places.
And that's an area where the team continues to work closely with providers and make sure that they have what they need to be able to invoice for services over the course of the year.