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PSS eyes $95,000 Early Head Start grant
The CNMI has a “very good chance” of getting a $95,000 competitive federal grant to start an Early Head Start program, according to Tim Thornburg, federal programs officer for the Public Schools System.
News of whether schools get funding from these competitive grants usually come toward the end of September, Thornburg said in an interview last week.
Guam, according to what Thornburg has been told, was “not a problem” when it came to competition in the region for the grant.
“We suspect that there may be only one entity [in the region] that applied for [the grant], but we simply don’t know,” he said.
According to him, applications for competitive grants are submitted electronically. “We find out when we find out.”
He said the grant might be divided among applicants or just awarded on a points basis and whoever “has the highest points gets it.”
Thornburg confirmed that the program would essentially be a new program with a new director, staff, and other personnel and would be built on the current Head Start program’s capacity.
“We have some Head Start centers with some additional space so we could co-locate [the two programs],” he said.
He said PSS’ chances are “very good” based on how they have met the federal criteria for the program.
“They wanted to see at a minimum that we were serving at least 72 infants and toddlers,” he added.
The PSS’ Early Head Start program was developed to serve 80 infants and toddlers.
He said that based on federal visits, PSS has been praised for “very good job” in establishing a model program.
“They said, ‘We would like to see you with Early Head Start.’ [And] this time we’re doing it,” he said.
Some of the personnel required for the program, according to the Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center website, are education and child development, health-related, parent involvement, and disability services staff, as well as a fiscal staff and program and center directors.
ECLKC noted that a staff member could serve more than one role, provided they are qualified.
Center-based programs are required one qualified teacher for every four infants or toddlers, with maximum group size being eight infants or toddlers and their two teachers.
