Head Start Trims Seats In Madison, Carroll Counties

ROGERS — Federal budget cuts mean 75 fewer openings for preschool age children at Head Start programs in two Northwest Arkansas counties.

Northwest Arkansas Head Start will end a home-based program in Madison County that served 60 children and trim 15 slots from its Green Forest center, said Jerry Adair, executive director. Eight jobs were lost.

No cuts are planned to the eight programs in Benton County, Adair said. Benton County programs serve 329 children.

Northwest Arkansas Head Start serves Benton, Madison and Carroll counties. There were 558 children in the three-county program last year, which closed 12 days early. The early close let administrators evaluate what to do next, Adair said.

At A Glance

What Is Head Start?

Head Start programs are operated with federal money. Their purpose is to increase school readiness through cognitive and social development of children from low-income families. Head Start serves children who enroll as 3- and 4-year-olds.

Source: Staff Report

“We had hoped the sequester would be overturned,” Adair said.

A provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011, commonly called sequestration, rolled into place in March of this year, trimming federal spending to reduce the national debt. Head Start lost 5.27 percent of its budget. The Rogers-based program lost about $190,000 from a fiscal year that started in January, Adair said.

Washington County will have 66 fewer children enrolled in the program and lose three teachers and three assistants this fall. The Economic Opportunity Agency of Washington County Board voted Tuesday to close the Willow Heights Center in Fayetteville and a Lincoln classroom to meet a $155,000 cut in federal money.

The presence of a state-funded preschool program in Green Forest played into the decision to cut seats in the Carroll County program down to 34, Adair said. Madison County still has 40 seats in a Huntsville center, but the 60 slots in the home-based program were cut because the travel was inefficient, Adair said. Teachers in the program drove to visit homes, teaching children and setting up lessons for parents to teach. Once a month parents and children would meet for a social event at the Huntsville office.

“We were so spread out. We would have a teacher who might drive for two hours,” he said. “We get more for our dollar by providing the center.”

Huntsville has prekindergarten programs for 40 children and another 10 at St. Paul Elementary School, but that covers less than a third of prekindergarten children, said Robert Allen, superintendent. State money for preschool programs is limited and the district has a waiting list, he said.

Demand for Head Start programming is strong in Benton County, Adair said, but there was no significant wait list in Green Forest.

Green Forest school officials didn't return a call requesting comment.

She questioned administrators about cuts, said Meranda Wilkerson, a Pea Ridge representative to the Northwest Arkansas Head Start Policy Council, but said she agreed with the decision because the money simply is not there.

“If that’s what has to be done, that’s what has to be done,” Wilkerson said.

As a volunteer and sometimes substitute in kindergarten classes, Wilkerson said she can see the difference in children who come to kindergarten ready to learn. They can write their names, know their shapes, can follow directions if given a worksheet and know how to raise their hand and behave in a classroom.

Children as young as 3 need interaction with other children to be ready for school, Wilkerson said. When her oldest reached that age, she looked for preschool or daycare options where he could socialize. Her least expensive option was $105 a week, Wilkerson said.

Even if she went back to work, she couldn't afford that, she said. Her entire salary would go to daycare and fuel to get to work. Her son qualified to enter Head Start because he required speech therapy.

“It’s amazing how much he learned,” she said.

Head Start is free to qualifying families. Most meet a low-income requirement, but 10 percent of children need special services, Adair said.

“The child is the last one who should have to suffer if their parents don’t make enough to get them into an expensive daycare,” Wilkerson said.

The three-county Head Start program will serve 443 children this fall but will open as scheduled Aug. 26, Adair said.

“This is not a cut that anybody in this agency wanted to make,” Adair said.

At A Glance

Head Start

The Madison County home-based Head Start Program office in Huntsville will close as a result of cuts. Northwest Arkansas Head Start has locations in:

• Bentonville

• Berryville

• Centerton

• Decatur

• Gentry

• Green Forest

• Huntsville

• Pea Ridge

• Rogers, Arkansas Street

• Rogers, Central Office

• Rogers, Hallie Martin

• Siloam Springs

Source: Staff Report

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