Head Start centers in 6 Mississippi counties begin reopening
EUPORA, Miss. (AP) – Head Start programs in six north Mississippi counties are reopening under an interim operator after federal regulators shut down the previous operator in November.
WCBI-TV reports the Head Start center in Eupora reopened last week. Other centers, providing preschool for 1,100 low income four-year-olds and 100 three-year-olds, are supposed to reopen by mid-February.
Centers in Montgomery, Choctaw, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes, Montgomery and Webster counties had been run by Central Mississippi Head Start of Winona. Federal regulators terminated that contract, citing financial, governance and human resource problems.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services tapped the Community Development Institute of Denver as an interim operator until a new permanent operator is found.
Head Start staff are making weekly home visits to children and parents while centers are closed.
