Agency
Department of Education
Board
State Board of Education
 Electronic Access 
Meeting:
Early Childhood Advisory Committee (ECAC) Meeting

 
Meeting Details
Date / Time 3/19/2026  1:00 pm
Type Both Physical and Electronic 
Location James Monroe Building
101 N. 14TH ST, Floor 22
Richmond, VA 23219-3668 
Electronic Access https://www.youtube.com/@virginiadepartmentofeducat1340/streams
Board Website https://www.doe.virginia.gov/ 
Agenda document pdf Meeting Agenda 3/10/2026   (225k)
Minutes document pdf Meeting minutes 5/28/2026   (274k)       FINAL
Purpose of the meeting
ECAC Meeting Announcement- March 19, 2026. The Early Childhood Advisory Committee (ECAC) will convene on Thursday, March 19, 2026, from 1 PM—4PM. The meeting will occur virtually and will be live streamed for public viewing via the VDOE YouTube Channel. If the live stream is unavailable, please contact earlychildhoodaccess@doe.virginia.gov, and the team will troubleshoot the issue. The recording will be posted within five business days. The ECAC will accept written public comments in advance of the meeting through the ECAC Public Comment Form ( https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=qeUKYsFOoE-GQV2fOGxzCQcOU3S4igxHoJYGmXjK4bxUMkhaNDRBRlVaS1JBR0FVWEJLMVJQVk1EWS4u ). This form collects public comments for review by the members of ECAC. All comments received by 8 AM on Thursday, March 12, will be shared with ECAC members during the meeting. Any comments received after that time will be shared at the next ECAC meeting. There will also be an opportunity to sign up for oral public comment during the meeting by providing your name and affiliation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission of the ECAC ------------------------------------ In July 2020, Governor Northam signed early childhood legislation (SB578/HB1012) that transitions oversight of the birth-five early childhood care and education system to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). This legislation establishes the Virginia Board of Education (BOE) and VDOE as responsible for oversight and administration of early care and education and creates a single point of accountability for school readiness, effective July 1, 2021. § 22.1-289.03 of the Code of Virginia directs the Board of Education (BOE) to establish a unified public-private early childhood care and education system in the Commonwealth. This legislation establishes a single point of accountability for school readiness and makes the BOE and VDOE responsible for overseeing and administering early childhood care and education effective July 1, 2021. The legislation also establishes the Early Childhood Advisory Committee (ECAC), which is responsible for advising the BOE on all programs, systems, and regulations related to Virginia’s unified early childhood system.
Meeting Scope
 
Public hearing to receive comment on a proposed stage
X
General business of the board
 
Discuss particular regulations / chapters

Contact Information
Name / Title: Chelsea Kaihoi  / Associate Director of Early Childhood Policy
Address: James Monroe Bldg.
101 N. 14th St., 25th Floor
Richmond, 23219
Email Address: chelsea.kaihoi@doe.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)839-1158    FAX: ()-    TDD: ()-   
Reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, such as sign language interpreters and/or real-time captioning services, are available upon request. Please send accommodation requests to the meeting contact as early as possible but no later than seven business days before the date of the meeting.