News

Head Start will not be offered in Bottineau this upcoming year

Scott Wagar

07/23/2013

Bottineau’s Head Start has been discontinued in Bottineau, which leaves some families in the Bottineau area without a comprehensive education program this upcoming school year.

“Early Explorers Head Start is sad to announce that the program will no longer provide preschool classroom services in the Bottineau community,” said Allison Dybing-Driessen, program director of the Early Explorers Head Start and Early Head Start program in Devils Lake, N.D. “The program received a 5.27 percent cut from sequestration reduction with threats of an additional nine percent cut in the new fiscal year. The program is making a number of cuts including the closing of the Bottineau site.”

Dybing-Driessen gave three primary reasons for the closure of Bottineau’s Head Start program, which included:

  •  Number of income eligible children- Head Start programs is required by federal law to serve families who meet the federal poverty guidelines (a family of four cannot make more than $24,000) and demonstrate the greatest needs. Early Explorers has struggled for many years to meet the required ratio of income eligible children in the Bottineau community.

 

  •  Need for permanent facility-When Early Explorers returned to the Bottineau, First Lutheran Church provided space as a temporary location. That temporary location is going on five years. The church has requested the return of office space and storage. The program worked with the city in the development of a childcare facility to be housed on the campus of Dakota College at Bottineau but was forced to leave the project due to budget cuts. The school district does not have available space. The program is unable to secure affordable rent that meets the necessary accommodations for the program.

 

  •  Vacancy of teacher position-The program lost its teacher at the beginning of the 2012-13 program year and utilized a substitute from Rugby for the program year. The substitute is not interested in the Bottineau position due to the long commute. The program is not pursuing a new teacher as due to the two reasons previously stated.


Dybing-Driessen stated that Head Start is disappointed in having to close in Bottineau.

“This was a difficult decision and we are truly saddened to leave the community,” Dybing-Driessen said. “Early Explorers hopes to return to the Bottineau community either through the reinstatement and increase in federal funds or as new dollars are made available through the state of North Dakota as a Pre-Kindergarten partnership with the Bottineau Public School. We appreciate the families and agencies that have supported the program over the years.”

Dybing-Driessen also stated that it is the goal of Head Start to bring its educational program back to Bottineau and will continue its work in making attempts to reestablish Head Start in the local community.

Throughout the United States, Head Start is a federal program that grants children the opportunity to receive a Pre-K education.

“The Head Start Program is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families,” Wikipedia stated.

“The program’s services and resources are designed to foster stable family relationships, enhance children’s physical and emotional well-being, and establish an environment to develop strong cognitive skills. The transition from preschool to kindergarten imposes diverse developmental challenges that include requiring the children to engage successfully with their peers outside of the family network, adjust to the space of a classroom and meet the expectations the school setting provides."

Individuals, who have any questions concerning Head Start in Bottineau, can call (701) 665-4431.