Aug 24, 2009 5 min read

For the parents of nearly 200 children throughout Fayette County anticipating the first day of school today, they will have to wait a bit longer until classes begin. Because the state Legislature has not adopted a state budget, the beginning of state funded Pre-K Counts and Head Start programs are on hold across the commonwealth. The programs are geared to ready children for kindergarten. The Pre-K Counts program began in 2007 throughout the state. The program fits the routine of a regular school day and follows the school calendar, being held five days a week and running from the morning to the afternoon. It is free to middle-income families whose earnings are above the income guidelines to enroll their child in Head Start.

In a letter sent to parents last week, Sandra J. Hall, director of Head Start, Early Head Start and Pre-K Counts, wrote that because of lack of funding, the start of school has been delayed.

Although when the programs begin depends entirely on when a budget is adopted, Hall wrote that they are anticipating the budget will be approved prior to Oct. 1 and services should begin within one week of the budget adoption.

Hall said the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette has 143 Pre-K Counts children registered for programs and 55 Head Start kids that will not head to school on Monday when the school districts begin classes.

On a bright note, a separate program is also run by the Frazier School District in which more than 45- 3 and 4-year-olds will begin an educational program to prepare them for kindergarten.

Bill Huebner, head of Dads Matter and early childhood Community Engagement Group Coordinator, said because of the impasse, six full time and 5 1/2 part time employees from Head Start and 16 instructors and two administrators from Pre-K Counts have been laid off and may not potentially come back when the programs begin.

“We need a budget now,” Huebner said.

Hall said since sending out the letters saying the programs will not begin when school does, they have been getting calls from concerned parents asking when school will start.

“We can’t tell them when and parents are now left looking for other solutions as to where to put their kids,” Hall said.

Hall said Child Care Information Services, which is also state-funded, is likely in a bind as well.

“It’s a vicious cycle for families,” Hall said.

Hall said without knowing how long the delay will be, some Pre-K Counts parents may opt to put their children in other programs, or will have to temporarily put them in day care until school begins, which could be detrimental to the children.

“It is really important to have schedules and routines for children,” Hall said.

In addition to not knowing when the budget will be adopted and school will start, Hall said it is also unknown how much funding the programs will receive.

“It’s quite possible if we don’t get total funding we will lose some of those slots,” Hall said.

Hall said because of the poverty and education statistics in Fayette County, there is definitely a need for Pre-K services for children. She said studies of children that have completed the program shows it works for school readiness.

“I would hate to take a step back,” Hall said.

Hall said the fact that the pre-kindergarten programs are not starting affects a lot more than just the children and their parents. She said if parents can’t get childcare, they may not be able to go to work and it would affect employers.

While Head Start provides services to children with parents of lower incomes and parents with higher incomes typically can afford private daycare, Hall said the children of the parents with middle incomes who are working and paying taxes will now be hurt by losing a program they counted on.

Since the programs aren’t starting, the staff is laid off and if they take other jobs, new teachers will have to start from the ground up again.

“It affects more people than the state realizes,” Hall said.

Hall said with the impasse, the nearly 200 kids that won’t be starting programs in Pre-K and Head Start will likely go on a waiting list for childcare.

Ron Sheba, former superintendent for Laurel Highlands School District, said the economic impact would be serve the longer programs are halted.

“Statistics have shown that Pre-K works,” Sheba said.

Plans for 70 to 90 additional Pre-K Counts slots are also on hold for Fayette County pending resolution of the budget impasse. While Democratic governor Ed Rendell has spoken against cutting programs and advocated an increase in the personal income tax, the Senate Republicans have said they will not approve any tax increase and want to cut programs.

Looking on the bright side, Hall said there would be a budget adopted sometime, but nobody knows when.

The state has been without a budget since the new fiscal year began on July 1.

The locations for the Pre-K Counts programs include Denise K. Kooser’s Group Day Care Home along Hatfield Lane and the Little Kid Zone along Connellsville Street in Uniontown; Rebecca Belski’s Duck Hollow Discovery Learning Center and the Cub’s Den at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus; Lafayette and Wharton schools in the Uniontown Area School District; and Masontown and D. Ferd Swaney Elementary Schools in the Albert Gallatin Area School District.

The Head Start locations are in North Union Township at the PIC building, on River Avenue in Masontown and in Republic.