As of Saturday the administration of the Head Start program in St. Landry Parish was to be transferred from the St. Landry Parish School Board to Save the Children Head Start.
The Federal Head Start reportedly made the decision based primarily on two incidents that occurred in November 2018 and October 2019.
In response, the St. Landry Parish School Board approved a letter to U.S. Reps. Mike Johnson and Clay Higgins defending its record in operating the program for the past five years.
At an Board Executive Committee meeting on June 26 Board President Joyce Haynes asked that the letter, which also went to area state legislators, be sent to the news media.
No one ever said what great things had gone on with the Head Start program, she said.
Board member Raymond Cassimere noted the upcoming elections to renew two taxes that support the system and the need to eliminate controversies.
Rod Sias, parish NAACP president, said there was nothing the School Board could have done to keep the Head Start program. Sias, son of Board member Hazel Sias, blamed politics on “very very high level” for the loss of the program.
“It is about money and not about children or progress,” he said.
The School Board took over the Head Start program with a plan to guide education from a early age in the parish. Part of the plan was to develop early education centers such as the one at Highland Elementary.
New Superintendent Milton Batiste III said at the June 26 meeting he will develop a new plan for Highland.
Board member Mary Ellen Donatto said theschool system corrected both problems cited by Head Start. In the 2018 incident a 3-year-old was left alone on a school bus at the Opelousas Head Start Center. Donatto said three employees were fired after the incident. In the 2019, a child was left in classroom during recess at the Grand Coteau Head Start Center.
Donatto and June Inhern, Head Start director, crafted a letter explaining the progress made by the school system in its administration of the program.
The letter included the following. (The full letter is attached with the story on eunicetoday.com as a PDF.)
Dear Associates of St. Landry Parish:
We, the school board members of St. Landry Parish, were informed earlier this month that our district was not awarded the renewal of the Head Start Grant. This news deeply saddened us, but also confused us. The overall purpose of school is to grow children academically. St. Landry Parish School System did that for our seven hundred eighty-eight (788) Head Start students. (We also taught them a full day, 8:00 A.M – 3:00 P.M.)
St. Landry Parish Early Childhood department uses the Teachstone Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) which evaluates the teacher-child interactions to determine whether a classroom is of high-quality. The overall averages are ranked on a seven-point scale that determines a performance profile rating for each teacher and overall site as well as the entire district.
St. Landry Parish acquired the program at the onset of the 2018-2019 school year.
Louisiana Department of Education mandates Teaching Strategies Gold as the early childhood assessment tool. Teaching Strategies outlines 38 critical objectives for development and learning in the areas of social-emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, and the arts from birth to third grade.
We have also attached in this email a list entitled “St. Landry Parish Head Start Accomplishments.” This indicates what was required, and done, by our employees in order to achieve the growth shown in the above-mentioned data.
How, with local and state data that shows a very high level of success, can this program be taken away from an area it was designed to assist?
Please do all in your power to help us continue to serve our OWN children as we have already proven we are able to do.
Thank you,
St. Landry Parish School Board Members
SLP Head Start Accomplishments
Building Staff Capacity/Leadership
— Implemented the Leader In Me Program at 4 Head Start/Early Head Start sites.
— Teachstone provided Pre-K CLASS Observer Training for all Head Start teachers.
— Provide support, financial assistance, and resources, such as scholarship information, for staff to pursue formal training to gain higher degrees/credentials.
— Acknowledge and celebrate staff successes at school board meetings, and at the annual staff recognition banquet.
— Administrative staff earned train-the-trainer certification in CLASS (Infant, Toddler, and Prek), Family Service Credential, and developmental screening, which helps to build internal capacity.
— Administrators and Center Directors received 75 hours of administrative training and earned an Administration and Leadership Credential through LSU.
— Developed Conscious Discipline Action Team.
Education
— Implemented Tier I Curriculum in all Head Start/Early Head Start classrooms (Creative Curriculum).
— Created libraries at each Head Start/Early Head Start site.
— Increased the number of Early Head Start classrooms in response to the needs assessment.
— Held Summer Kindergarten Prep Camp in 2021 and 2022 to increase Kindergarten Readiness for four-year olds.
— Applied, received, and implemented the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) Grant which helped parents of infants and toddlers foster language development.
Facilities
— Removed outdated carpets and remodeled classrooms with new flooring.
— Purchased age appropriate classroom furniture and materials for Head Start/Early Head Start.
— Upgraded playgrounds to promote additional opportunities for learning (outdoor learning centers).
— Require all facilities and classrooms to be locked so visitors must be granted access to enter.
— Purchased flags and installed flagpoles at each site.
— Conducted lead testing at all sites.
— Applied and received the Napsacc (Nutrition and Physical Activity Self- Assessment for Child Care) Grant to enhance the existing playgrounds at each site.
— Painted the exterior of all sites.
— Installed Lending Libraries at each site for public access.
— With the collaboration of the school system, we purchased motor labs for each site.
Family Services/Parent Engagement
— Each year, all children are enrolled in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library so that parents have access to developmentally appropriate books so that they can support the children’s literacy development.
— Created parent involvement calendar and implemented monthly activities.
— Funded staff and parents to attend the Parent-Family Engagement Conference in California.
— Trained over 25 Family Advocates to obtain a Family Service Credential.
— Developed Parent Engagement newsletter and Expecting Mothers newsletters issued monthly.
— Increased opportunities for male/father figure involvement throughout the year.
— Developed strategies to enhance communication to intentionally include father-figures.
— Implemented a research-based parenting curriculum since 2019.
— Implemented Parent Gauge to measure our impact efforts with families.
— Provided former Head Start/Early Head Start parents employment and volunteer opportunities.
Mental Health
— Contracted part-time (2019) Mental Health Consultant, Mental Health Specialist (2022), to provide services on site to students, staff, and families.
— Collaborated with universities to acquire mental health interns.
— Mental Health team trained staff on Culture of Calm/Safety techniques.
— Conscious Discipline Building Resilient Home and Schools training was provided to the entire staff.
— Created and provided each site a Mental Health Resource Binder which includes:
— Culture of Calm.
— Strategies on handling challenging behaviors.
— Stress management for teachers.
— A guide on how to use the materials that were purchased.
— Referral forms for students, parents, and staff.
Partnerships
— Partnered with Walden University and University of Louisiana to host undergraduate mental health interns at all Head Start/Early Head Start sites.
— Partnered with Northwestern State University to host undergraduate Early Childhood student at Head Start/Early Head Start sites.
— Invited university students to visit our Head Start/Early Head Start sites to complete field experience observations.
— Louisiana State University at Eunice Basketball players and Beau Chene High School Family and Consumer Science students read story books to our Head Start students.
— Facilitated community outreach through the St. Landry Parish Early Learning Community Network Luncheon to raise public awareness and support.
Professional Development
— Created three training rooms at our Administrative Office to host over 150 participants.
— Onsite coaching provided by Creative Curriculum consultants to Head Start/Early HS staff members.
— Ongoing training is provided after hours to teachers based on trending needs.
— School Board Professional Development Calendar provides 8 six-hour days to conduct training.
Recruitment
— Created a Mobile Recruitment Bus-“Reggie.”
— Participate in SLPSB Career Futures Expo to recruit future Head Start/Early Head Start students and potential employees.
— Visit high schools throughout the district on a regular basis to provide support and information on available resources to pregnant students, including enrollment opportunities in the Pregnant Moms Program.
— Host an Enrollment Extravaganza to increase vacancy awareness.
— Contracted a marketing company.
Billboards.
Website.
— Social media.
— Online application portal.
— Contracted an interpreter to transcribe all Head Start/Early Head Start forms into Spanish.
Safety
— Provide ongoing Active Supervision training to all staff members.
— Developed monitoring tools with Google Forms for efficient ongoing monitoring data collection.
— Installed surveillance cameras throughout, including the hallways, classrooms, playground, and parking lot.
— Installed surveillance cameras on all Head Start buses.
— Provide in-person, hands-on Transportation Procedure training to all staff during annual pre-service professional development, which includes active supervision steps and live demonstration of bus drill.
— Purchased ID printers for each site so that all students and staff can receive a picture ID in an effort to support active supervision procedures.
— Created photo labels for assigned bus seats to serve as a visual reference to support active supervision while providing transportation services. Created and provided “Baby in the back” rear view mirror tags to program parents to serve as a reminder to “Look before you lock” so that no child is left unattended in a vehicle.
— Implemented procedure to ensure authorized student release lists are updated monthly by utilizing a color-coded system with an assigned paper color to each month.
— Created visual reminder posters to help staff recall procedural steps for various procedures.
Technology
— Created website that contains all of our ongoing monitoring forms.
— Upgraded technology in the classroom by installing Smart Boards in the Head Start rooms.
— Purchased new computers for staff and students.
— Provided administration, teachers, center directors, and family advocates with iPads.
— WiFi adapters installed throughout each site.
— Upgraded WiFi routers in all sites.
— Upgraded phone systems program wide.
— Purchased iPads for students for virtual education use during quarantine.
— Family Advocates provided with wireless scanners.
— Upgraded printers throughout the program.
— Supplied web cameras to staff so that they can participate in virtual training and meeting sessions.
