With federal funding at risk, MPS' Head Start council held its regular meeting. They discussed the problem for 3 minutes.

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Less than one week after its federal funding was suspended over numerous incidents related to child safety, the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) committee dedicated to administration of the Head Start program held its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday.

There was one item of new business: The funding suspension. MPS' Head Start Policy Council spent a total of three minutes discussing the issue. The was no specific discussion of what went wrong or what the district will change should it keep the federal grant.

Head Start is a federally-funded program that provides free preschool for low-income families. MPS officials say there are currently about 1,200 children involved in the city's Head Start program.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), which operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told CBS 58 Monday the district is at risk of losing its federal contract. There is currently an open competition to secure the next Head Start grant. 

MPS has told parents and staff the suspension stems from three deficiencies between June 2022 and May 2024, but records obtained exclusively by CBS 58 outline how each of those stated deficiencies include numerous examples of infractions.

There were multiple instances where observers noticed only one staffer manning a classroom. Head Start protocol calls for at least two adults in a classroom at all times.

The more serious incidents involved at least two cases where a bus driver dropped off kids at the wrong spot. In both instances, there was no adult around to receive the preschoolers, and in one incident, a child managed to wander a block away from the school before eventually being spotted.

In another incident, a substitute paraprofessional smacked a juice box out of a child's mouth. That same substitute was later seen grabbing a child by the wrist and yelling at them. It was that substitute's first day, and they were later fired. An MPS official acknowledged at the time the district did not give early childhood training to substitutes.

Before Wednesday's meeting, Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Mims-Howell said she was not worried about the possibility of MPS losing its Head Start funding. The ACF has said it expects to decide who will receive Milwaukee's next Head Start grant by the end of this month.

"Well, it's really not a concern. What I want to focus on is students getting their services," Mims-Howell said. "Families don't always look at where funding comes from; it's just more about what are we doing for their children and their families here in Milwaukee Public Schools."

MPS officials have said the suspension won't affect the operation of Head Start between now and the end of the school year.

The district is at the end of a five-year grant for the program. MPS received $14 million from Head Start for the current school year, and it projected Head Start would provide $10.5 million next year.

"Well, having that funding [next year] definitely would've been a good thing," Mims-Howell said. "We're not saying we're not gonna get it, but what we are saying is, no matter what, services will be provided for students in Milwaukee Public Schools."

To address its problems, Mims-Howell said MPS has implemented a system where the central office must be alerted if a Head Start staffer is out, and it won't be possible to have two workers in a classroom. 

She said, in those cases, MPS will have a worker from the central or academic offices pinch hit in the classroom, and if they haven't received early childhood training, there will be access to a video tutorial employees can watch before going into a school.

"We have put some more intensive measures in for the supervision and training for the staff and volunteers that come into our classroom," Mims-Howell said.

During the brief conversation at Wednesday's meeting, the council noted it was putting together a formal improvement plan and planned to submit it to the ACF on Friday.