When the administration of Educational Service District (ESD) 113 announced a plan to close the Yelm Head Start Center last week, families and educators of the early learning program, which supports low-income students and children with needs, were shocked.
Along with the center’s potential closure, the district also announced plans to cut the number of children served by the Washington Elementary Head Start Center in Hoquiam and all pre-kindergarten Head Start centers served by a grant to ESD 113. According to the American Federation of Teachers Washington, which represents the Head Start educators, these closures and cuts would reduce enrollment by more than 40%.
The idea had never even been discussed at prior meetings, staff said. Billed as a change in scope request, the district claimed that these steps are necessary to lower the staff-to-child ratio in classrooms and ensure classroom safety and the success of students with significant behavioral health needs. While the union and educators agree on the reasoning, they disagree with the solution.
On Monday, May 6, more than a dozen staff, parents and community members flocked to the ESD headquarters in Tumwater to voice frustration with the administration’s choices and to deliver a petition calling on the district to reevaluate its decision. According to Yelm Head Start Center Policy Council Rep. Kayla Russell, as of Tuesday, May 7, the group has acquired 338 signatures on its petition since Friday, May 3.
“It shows that our community genuinely cares about our little ones, and we see the value that Head Start brings to Yelm. Cutting it would be so devastating to so many of our community members and families,” she said. “It’s more than Head Start. It’s resources and early intervention for learning and just so much that would harm our city if we didn’t have it.”
During the meeting with ESD 113 Assistant Superintendent Tracye Ferguson and other administrators, Yelm Head Start staff and parents shared their displeasure with the lack of transparency from the ESD administration regarding the announcement and called for the district to work with parents and unionized staff transparently and then resubmit a plan that “minimizes community disruptions.”
In response, ESD 113 Associate Director of Early Learning Jessica Eyer said the decision is not final and that the district is “exploring a variety of ways” to address under-enrollment issues at Head Start centers and that any decisions moving forward are “up in the air.” According to Yelm Head Start staff, 72 students are enrolled in the Yelm center, but within the entire Head Start program in the district, the proposals would reduce the enrollment from 430 to 254. Yelm staff claimed that the enrollment in their center was consistent and didn’t require any reductions.
Jackie Reintzell, a teacher assistant and health advocate at the Yelm Head Start Center, said staff and families have been writing letters to ESD 113 administrators to express their concerns and feelings about the potential plans.
“It came pretty much out of left field. We were very surprised,” she said of the district’s proposal. “Our biggest interests lie in cutting bloat at the top. The ESD 113 superintendent and assistant superintendent make giant six-figure salaries. ESD 113 takes almost 12% off the Head Start grant in ‘indirect’ fees while treating its board of directors to fancy retreats at Alderbrook.”
Russell is optimistic following the meeting with ESD 113 administrators and said she hopes that the number of supporters who signed the petition helps them shift their priorities.
“I think it went well. I think that they’re open to listening or they wouldn’t have showed up, and that’s a pretty big step in a situation like this,” she said.
The Yelm Head Start Center is not involved with Yelm Community Schools, but if any closures or significant cuts were to occur, developmental preschool or transitional kindergarten in the YCS district could be alternative options for families. However, the development preschool costs $300 monthly, which is a concern for the low-income families that the Yelm Head Start Center serves. With the educational programs and operations (EP&O) levy failing, families are anxious about the security of such programs in YCS, as well.
“It’s scary. My oldest son plays sports, and we don’t know what sports will look like. We don’t know what classroom sizes will look like,” Russell said. “There’s just so much unknown, and the unknown is scary, but it would be great if we can work together and figure it out.
“Our community wants this. They’ve shown that in the petition and in the online forms where they’re asking questions and asking how to be involved,” she continued. “We love this program.”
In a press release from AFT Washington Communications Specialist Cortney Marabetta, the proposed reductions were made without community involvement and without transparency.
“This year has been an incredibly taxing one, staff report, with increasing violence in the classroom leading to burnout and turnover in staff,” Marabetta wrote. “In addition to direct classroom support, Head Start educators provide wrap-around services such as dental checkups for their students; the plan to close these centers and end pre-kindergarten Head Start also ends these services, with no viable replacement offered or available. It’s very clear that in this change of scope request, families and staff are the ones paying the price for the district’s refusal to seek real solutions to the funding problem.”
Reintzell said the community needs to see supportive education at every level, whether it’s from YCS or ESD 113. She hopes that the meeting in Tumwater gave administrators enough reason to reconsider their abrupt proposal.
“It’s unfortunate to see that this program is on the chopping block when we need to see support for education,” she said. “In a community where the educational needs of children are not being met based on [the levy failure], I was shocked to watch the ESD further fail the children in our community by proposing the elimination of the Yelm Head Start Center. The most vulnerable children within our community are now missing out on the opportunity for service with the recent proposal. These children and families depend on us. People in this town need to see that education matters.”
To learn more about the petition, visit https://tinyurl.com/mvjjj5rs.
