WASHINGTON — Concerns about the Head Start program in Prince George’s County persist after a federal report detailed deficiencies and announced the funding had been terminated.
The termination means that the county would lose $6.3 million in federal grant money for Head Start. Under federal guidelines, the Prince George’s County school system can “relinquish” that money, or it can appeal the decision. But according to federal documents, if the school system appeals the termination and loses, it could lose the ability to reapply for up to five years.
Prince George’s County officials have also expressed concern about how the incidents that led to the termination were handled by Head Start administrators. NBC Washington reports that School Board member Ed Burroughs shares that concern, saying that some members of the board didn’t even know about the investigation until the loss of the grant was announced.
Prince George’s County Council Chair Derrick Leon Davis has called for a review of the incidents detailed in the U.S. Health and Human Services report, which not only outlined deficiencies in the Head Start program, but raised questions about whether Head Start officials complied with state law that requires timely reporting of suspected abuse and neglect.
In one case, a 3-year-old boy was made to mop up his own urine after wetting his pants during nap time. The HHS report says that the parent of the child was upset to see that a teacher had snapped photos of the boy being humiliated with the captions “LOL” and “he worked that mop, tho,” and went to complain. But she was “likely discouraged” from filing a formal complaint by a family services worker, who then failed to report the incident in a timely manner, the report says.
The report went on to question why two assistant teachers, assigned to the child’s classroom, failed to report the incident. In signed statements, the two assistants said that they didn’t see it happen, even though the photos show the boy was in full view of the class.
The federal report indicates that school officials failed to provide information regarding its investigation of the incident, including the whereabouts of the two assistants when the boy was made to clean up while still in wet clothes.
Prince George’s County’s handbook for parents of children in the Head Start program explains that parents should provide an extra set of clothes to the school because, “From time to time, we have small accidents and spills which require a change of clothing.”
The handbook also reads, “Head Start Staff and volunteers will use positive methods of guidance and will not engage in corporal punishment, emotional or physical abuse, or humiliation.”
When news of the funding termination broke on Wednesday, school officials pledged that the Head Start program, which serves 932 students, would continue, although they did not explain how it would be funded.
