The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has voted to discontinue pursuit of a federal Head Start program grant, and will instead create the District’s own Early Childhood program.
Dr. Ferrell Miller stated, “We have decided as a group to go ahead and create our own Early Childhood program, and withdraw pursuit of the Head Start grant.”
USD 475 has been going through a competitive grant process, negotiating with regional Head Start officials on a new five year five million dollar grant, but those negotiations were not complete. It was unknown when or if the District would be successful in obtaining the grant.
New guidelines were implemented in 2007 for the federal Head Start program that promotes school readiness for three, four , and five year old children from low income families. The District was notified in January of 2013 that programs do not automatically qualify for renewed funding if they meet certain criteria…one of them triggers or deficiencies. Those deficiencies included:
–Screening within the first 45 days of the child’s entry into the program for development, sensory, and behavioral concerns.
–Management systems and procedures which must be in place for ongoing monitoring of Head Start operations to ensure operations effectively implement federal regulations.
–And, staff recruitment and selection procedures involving criminal record checks being done before a Head Start agency employs and individual.
The District submitted the new Head Start grant application in October of 2013, but negotiations had not been completed, and if they were not concluded by the July 1 funding date, it was possible more negotiation dates would have been necessary. So the District will no longer pursue the grant.
USD 475 does have enough available federal funding along with a local match estimate in the $340,000 to $360,000 range to fund the $1.2 million per year program for one year. After that it will be necessary to obtain other grant funding to continue to support the program. While there is not a guarantee, District staff believes there are other grants that could fund the program in future years.
Current employees in the Head Start program will lose those specific jobs. But District officials have made it clear there are enough available positions in USD 475 for those employees to be rehired in a comparable position. Some job duties may change for individuals, but no one will undergo a reduction in pay. Some of those employees could receive an increase in compensation.
The Head Start – Early Childhood program issue will be the focus on the Your Town show on KJCK AM, The Talk of JC, Tuesday morning beginning at 9:06. Listeners who have questions may call in during the program to have those questions answered. The telephone number for the program is 238-1420.