The Board of Education, in a meeting last week, said there is a need to set a teacher requirement for Head Start, which had 30 assistant teachers and three child development supervisors last year.
The program doesn’t have a classroom teacher, who is defined as someone with a bachelor or higher degree.
Head Start Director Kathleen Keiko Yamagata told BOE that all sessions in 2007-2008 were led by teacher assistants or those who have less than a B.A. degree but with specialized certification in early childhood education.
In 2007, the program had 12 teachers who had B.A. degrees or higher, but they transferred to PSS or other schools that offered higher compensation.
Yamagata reported that the program had 462 children last year.
The board is now reviewing the proposal to impose a teacher requirement on Head Start starting in 2011.
BOE Vice Chairman Herman T. Guerrero, during the board meeting, said that the Head Start personnel must be given ample time to obtain a degree.
“I know there’s budgetary issues here…but we need to encourage them to get their degrees and stay with the program rather than moving to elementary schools,” Guerrero told the board.
The board will seek recommendations from the PSS leadership regarding the Head Start program which currently serves 454 families.
Head Start has 10 centers —Tinian, Songsong, Sinapalo, Tanapag, Garapan, Oleai, Kagman, Dandan, Chalan Kanoa, and San Antonio.
Approximately 17 children are accommodated in every Head Start session.
Each year, the program gets $1.7 million in federal funds.
However, its local matching fund has decreased — from almost $700,000 to $350,000.
Head Start is a program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.
