Kids Return to Head Start
The Gulf Coast Community Action Agency lost its federal funding in mid-December for failing to properly address abuse allegations.
Students were supposed to return to class on Tuesday but the transfer of operations from the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency to the Community Development Institute caused a delay. Today, Harrison County Head Start students finally headed back to school. News 25’s Bryan Kennedy caught up with parents as they dropped off their children for the first time this year.
Early Thursday morning, Autumn Nelson dropped off her three-year-old daughter Leah at Head Start. While Leah was excited about her first day of school this year, her mother was equally excited. “I’ve had to pay a little bit extra in daycare costs while the school was getting ready to open so it’s been a little bit harder on me as a parent because I work full-time.”
Leah is one of more than 1,300 children returning to Head Start today in Harrison County, two days later than scheduled after the Community Development Institute had to step in over the holiday break after the program was yanked from the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency after abuse allegations were reportedly not properly investigated.
While a permanent agency has not yet been chosen to take over the Head Start, parents tell News 25 they’re happy to see their kids get back on schedule. “She’s back with her friends. She missed her teachers a lot and she just ran through the doors screaming, ‘Oh, I’m so excited,’” said Nelson.
All throughout the morning, parents were dropping their children off for the first day back from the holiday break. While they said their children were simply excited to be back with their friends, the parents say this may be the beginning of the end. Laporsha Cunningham said, “Well, a lot of my friends are actually talking about maybe paying for childcare because it’s not really reliable at this point. Everything is still kind of in the midst and we don’t know if it’s guaranteed or if it is temporary.”
In the meantime, parents say they will keep out a watchful eye to see if it is temporary because their children’s futures depend on it. “I hope that they continue to allow the funding with all of the locations so that parents can have a good preschool for their children to attend so that they can be ready for kindergarten,” said Nelson.
In total, $9 million in annual funding for the Head Start program was taken away after the federal government found that the GCCAA did not properly address abuse allegations.
Students were supposed to return to class on Tuesday but the transfer of operations from the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency to the Community Development Institute caused a delay. Today, Harrison County Head Start students finally headed back to school. News 25’s Bryan Kennedy caught up with parents as they dropped off their children for the first time this year.
Early Thursday morning, Autumn Nelson dropped off her three-year-old daughter Leah at Head Start. While Leah was excited about her first day of school this year, her mother was equally excited. “I’ve had to pay a little bit extra in daycare costs while the school was getting ready to open so it’s been a little bit harder on me as a parent because I work full-time.”
Leah is one of more than 1,300 children returning to Head Start today in Harrison County, two days later than scheduled after the Community Development Institute had to step in over the holiday break after the program was yanked from the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency after abuse allegations were reportedly not properly investigated.
While a permanent agency has not yet been chosen to take over the Head Start, parents tell News 25 they’re happy to see their kids get back on schedule. “She’s back with her friends. She missed her teachers a lot and she just ran through the doors screaming, ‘Oh, I’m so excited,’” said Nelson.
All throughout the morning, parents were dropping their children off for the first day back from the holiday break. While they said their children were simply excited to be back with their friends, the parents say this may be the beginning of the end. Laporsha Cunningham said, “Well, a lot of my friends are actually talking about maybe paying for childcare because it’s not really reliable at this point. Everything is still kind of in the midst and we don’t know if it’s guaranteed or if it is temporary.”
In the meantime, parents say they will keep out a watchful eye to see if it is temporary because their children’s futures depend on it. “I hope that they continue to allow the funding with all of the locations so that parents can have a good preschool for their children to attend so that they can be ready for kindergarten,” said Nelson.
In total, $9 million in annual funding for the Head Start program was taken away after the federal government found that the GCCAA did not properly address abuse allegations.
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