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PSS Head Start sees 6 withdrawals
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Posted on Jan 18 2019
The Public School System’s Head Start program recorded six withdrawals since December 2018 due to hardships from Super Typhoon Yutu.
CNMI PSS Head Start and Early Head Start coordinator Lathania Santos reported to the Board of Education last Jan. 11, 2019 that their office recorded six student withdrawals for the month of December 2018 alone.
“We are continuing to see a lot of drops as well as requests to transfer to other stations as a result of the storm, so we are continuing to work with those families,” she noted in her report.
She reported that the 394 Head Start program population consisted of 230 Pacific islanders, 147 Asians, 16 multi-racial, and one Caucasian—majority male with only 192 female students as their demographics. The Early Head Start program saw 64 enrollees since December 2018, consisting of 42 Pacific islanders, 15 Asians, and seven multi-racial students, majority of which are at least 2 years old.
She noted that she believes that the recent ravage of Super Typhoon Yutu in late October 2018 affected the numbers as families were forced to relocate to a shelter facility as a result of the typhoon or relocate off-island altogether.
However, Santos noted that of the six students who withdrew from the Head Start program, two had transportation issues, two had family relocating out of the CNMI, one had a conflict with the parent’s work schedule, and the last had urgent family matters.
While Santos noted the withdrawals, she also pointed out that the program met federal minimum requirements for the program attendance of 85 percent. She noted that the Head Start program was seeing an 88.29 percent attendance, while the Early Head Start program is seeing only 82.18 percent. Currently, she added, the programs are seeing a waitlist of 122 and 143 for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs respectively.
Almost half of the absences for the Early Head Start and Head Start Programs were attributed to sickness, while the second highest reason for absences were due to families being off-island and transportation issues.
