By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

HEAD START alumni and community partners yesterday said they are in the process of lobbying the Legislature to extend funding to the program which is federally funded but requires some local funding.
John O. Gonzales, a member of the Head Start batch of 1976, said they have asked the Ways and Means Committee headed by Rep. Crispin M. Ogo, Covenant-Rota, to include the pre-school program in the Public School System budget.
Head Start program director Josephine K. Tudela said the Legislature appropriated funding for grades 1 to 12 only.
She said Head Start alumni and community partners havebeen lobbying the lawmakers since March.
Tudela said 117 children will not be able to attend Head Start this coming August if federal authorities do not approve their request to reduce the local funding share.
She said they are still waiting for the approval.
The are 491 children enrolled at Head Start centers on Saipan, 54 on Rota, and 34 on Tinian.
A program of the U.S. of Health and Human Services, Head Start is for children from low-income families.
Created in 1965, it provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families