“Prior to that, we were treated as sec- ond-rate professionals.”


MEETING SPECIAL NEEDS Te transitional element concerning


special needs students is not the only way that Head Start staff can benefit from strong ties with its local school district. To meet one federal requirement,


Head Start centers must make sure that 10 percent of their student population is represented in the category of having disabilities that require special education services. Tis is especially true for migrant and seasonal Head Start centers, accord- ing to Nancy Netherland, senior program design and management specialist at the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Tech- nical Assistance Center Academy for Educational Development. “Migrant Head Start programs are


struggling to meet the 10-percent regula- tion, and there are several explanations for the 6 percent average across our region,” said Netherland, a regular presenter at the STN EXPO. “One common barrier is that often school districts do not provide disabilities services including evaluations during the summer when most migrant Head Start programs operate.” Head Start agencies are also advised to


not “cherry pick” the children with the types disabilities that they would prefer to serve. Agencies should also include chil- dren with the most severe disabilities. Netherland also pointed out the fact


that there is a short length of time that children are enrolled in migrant programs, which does not allow for the long process of screening, referring, evaluating and de- termining that a child has a disability. Tis can also make it more difficult when the student transitions to kindergarten, where difficulties with reading and writing are more readily apparent than in pre-school, where teaching is less formal and perfor- mance isn’t measured by tests. Migrant families also sometimes don’t


travel with children with disabilities, es- pecially those who are medically fragile. Instead, they often leave them at home with a relative. For others, continued local outreach plays a major role in meet- ing the requirement. “In our small rural area everyone knows


www.stnonline.com 29


we welcome special needs children. We always have more than 10 percent [children with disabilities],” said Linda Culbertson, executive director for Nemcsa Indian River (Mich.) Head Start. Sharon A. Hansen, director of the Early Childhood Center for Dickinson (Md.) Public


Schools and Community Action Partnership, serves approximately 35 percent of chil- dren with special needs. Te district also assists the program with a cost share with staffing, rent, utilities, and transportation costs. “We have a written agreement with our local school district and we review this writ- ten agreement annually,” added Hansen. ■


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