NORTHAMPTON — Stymied by the struggle to attract and retain enough teachers, the area’s Head Start provider has proposed lowering its enrollment capacity in the face of a potential loss of $3 million in federal funding.
Clare Higgins, executive director of Community Action Pioneer Valley, said the agency has submitted its plan to preserve its funding level to the federal Office of Head Start for approval.
“We’ve every expectation it will be approved,” Higgins said. “We right-sized our program to fit the number of classrooms we could staff.”
The agency aims for a ratio of 15 children to two teachers for preschool classes, and a ratio of 7-2 or 8-2 for infants and toddlers.
The change will reduce the number of spaces open to children from 438 to 311, but Higgins noted that those slots have been empty for many months because of the staffing shortage, and no children would lose a space under the program’s revised scope.
Community Action will also eliminate most transportation services because it has been unable to find drivers, Higgins said. The Office of Head Start notified Community Action in March that funding would be cut unless it achieved full enrollment by next spring.
Higgins said the agency’s contract isn’t based on the number of children it serves. “We have a total contract amount, and we meet all the needs within that,” she said.
As a result, with lower enrollment and fewer teachers, Community Action is boosting salaries in an effort to remain competitive in a tight labor market, Higgins said. Pay for assistant teachers will now range from $18 to $19 an hour, depending on credentials. Teachers’ pay will now start at $39,000, rising to $46,000, and a lead teacher can come in at $49,000, rising to $58,000 with a bachelor’s degree and five years’ experience.
Higgins said these changes have already generated interest among job seekers. She noted that it’s important for children’s early development that their teachers are not constantly coming and going.
“Turnover is bad,” she said.
Head Start provides early education and care for children from birth to age 5 from families with low incomes. Community Action has Head Start programs in Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties. Though Head Start programs typically run for part of the day during the school year only, Higgins said Community Action is prioritizing full-day, full-year programs.
With the lower enrollment, it will close some of the sites it currently operates, including a part-day site in North Amherst and a site on Washington Street in Greenfield.
This will leave sites at Amherst Community Child Care next to Wildwood School, Vernon Street School in Northampton, Montague, Orange and Ware, along with Westfield and Agawam.
Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner confirmed that Higgins had talked to her about the closure there and let her know that the aim was to reopen it when possible. With its scope reduced and funding secured, Higgins is already eyeing future growth.
“We can expand from a more solid foundation,” she said.