Manhattan Area Technical College will provide the early‑childhood education component of the Flint Hills Community Accelerator — a community project that includes an incubator for family child‑care providers, a permanent Kansas Works site and a free clinic — and the Curriculum Committee placed the college’s proposed early‑childhood program awards on the consent agenda May 15.

The college’s proposal includes a Technical Certification A (18 credits), Technical Certification B (30 credits) and an Associate of Applied Science (60 credits). Sharman, KBOR staff, said the proposal grew from a partnership among the college, Heartland Works, the Manhattan Free Clinic and a community childcare business initiative. The packet included three letters of support and a Perkins CLNA showing demand (staff cited 56 annual openings in the Perkins data).

Manhattan’s plan centers on an eight‑suite incubator adjacent to Via Christi Hospital where individually licensed family child‑care providers will operate their businesses while receiving coaching, mentoring and training. Lisa Isaacson, executive director of the Flint Hills Community Accelerator, described the incubator: "Each one of the suites is an individually licensed family childcare business through KDHE. They each hold their own individual license and run their business in that space." She added the site includes classroom space for hybrid curriculum and that many classes will be offered in the evening to accommodate providers’ schedules.

Costs and partners: Sharman reported the project’s initial cost at $6,304,600, the large majority for facility construction; the Community Foundation is contributing substantial grant funding to the facility and the college will share personnel costs with the foundation. Manhattan’s team said they already have over 30 Manhattan High School students signed up for dual‑credit classes and are coordinating with Cloud County Community College on program differences; the packet includes correspondence between the institutions.

Committee action: Committee members moved and seconded a motion to place Manhattan’s early‑childhood education program awards on the consent agenda; the motion carried. Staff said they will update the packet to include correspondence with Cloud County Community College.