MSCS violations put $30M in federal preschool funding up for bid
At 92% capacity so far, Head Start seats represent most of the district’s 4,500 current preschool students. (The Daily Memphian file)
Nearly $30 million in federal preschool funding is expected to be up for grabs in Shelby County for next school year.
In recent years, Memphis-Shelby County Schools has been the recipient of the Head Start grant. The funds support 3,200 preschool seats for students who are part of low-income families.
But MSCS will have to re-compete for the funding because the school system has repeatedly violated Head Start program requirements.
Since 2020, Head Start officials have found instances of preschool teachers hitting, kicking and jerking students, prompting multiple deficiency notices.
Head Start’s rules require a grant be competitively bid if a program operator has received two or more deficiency notices. The notices are issued when providers, such as MSCS, have fallen out of compliance with Head Start.
Program operators that meet certain requirements can renew their grants without a competitive bidding process.
MSCS says the application window is estimated to open in October. The five-year grant would be awarded in June and begin in July.
The school district is also seeking a continuation of its current Head Start grant to continue providing preschool services through the second semester of the current school year.
“Yes, the district is concerned about the possibility of losing the Head Start grant,” MSCS communications director Jermaine Johnson said to The Daily Memphian, stressing that losing the $30 million award would impact 3,200 students.
The district has not received any deficiencies this school year, said Janice Tankson, the assistant superintendent of schools.
If not MSCS, then who?
It is not clear how much competition MSCS could face for Head Start programming funds.
Early-childhood-education organization Porter-Leath receives federal funding for Early Head Start, which focuses on younger students. The organization once offered Head Start-funded services, too, most recently under a contract with MSCS. The contract represented about two-thirds of the grant award.
Ahead of the 2021-22 school year, the Porter-Leath and MSCS contract fell apart. The fallout roiled the local early-child-education scene, which is a complex mix of public and private education providers that operate with various government and philanthropic funds. In the end, MSCS took control of the services for the entire Head Start grant award.
Porter-Leath did not say if it planned to apply for Head Start funds for the 2025-2030 grant award.
“Porter-Leath continues to focus on best-serving children and families. We look forward to learning more details as the grant posts,” Rob Hughes, vice president of development, said to The Daily Memphian.
Head Start officials concerned by discipline practices
Since 2020, MSCS has received seven total deficiencies from Head Start for its program, for which officials mainly found compliance concerns with student discipline and safety, records show. Three of the deficiencies have occurred since 2023.
Find a complete list of findings at the end of this story.
Head Start officials told MSCS in January 2024 they were concerned about a pattern of teachers disciplining children by hitting them, and its plans for coming into compliance weren’t working.
“A monitoring report ... stated the program implemented corrective actions to ensure ongoing compliance; however, the continued pattern of child-maltreatment incidents verified that the corrective actions were not sustainable,” Head Start officials wrote in the report, which reviewed incidents between March and October 2023.
MSCS responded by increasing classroom monitoring and adding more behavior-support staff to its Head Start preschool centers, federal officials said.
“Despite these additional measures taken, additional child-health and safety issues continued,” Head Start officials wrote in a report issued in March 2024.
Between November 2023 and February 2024, officials said, concerning discipline patterns continued. In three instances, teachers hit, pulled and grabbed children by the neck. Another teacher left a child in soiled clothes for 11 minutes.
MSCS board members approved a corrective-action plan in the spring, and the district is currently waiting for the federal Head Start office to approve it, the school district said to The Daily Memphian.
“Deficiencies in Head Start programs are a serious concern,” Johnson, MSCS’ communications director, said to The Daily Memphian Tuesday, Sept. 10.
And MSCS is not alone in having program violations.
“Recent investigations by the Office of Head Start have revealed that 27% of Head Start programs had safety violations, including issues such as child abuse or unsupervised children,” Johnson said.
Head Start makes up majority of MSCS preschool enrollment
Divalyn Gordon, who oversees the district’s early-childhood division, said she expects the Head Start enrollment to reach its capacity of 3,200 students this year.
The district can only accept families who meet specific income levels due to the requirements of its preschool-funding sources.
“We have to turn down families who are a dollar over the threshold,” Gordon said to board members Tuesday.
Still, preschoolers are driving some of the district’s enrollment increases this year, data shows. After the first month of school, there were 1,200 more preschool students enrolled this year than at the same time last year.
At 92% capacity so far, Head Start seats represent most of the district’s 4,500 current preschool students.
“Everybody says that we want to expand, but there is a workforce challenge for us to be able to expand,” Gordon said.
MSCS board members are set to vote Sept. 24 to approve the district’s bids on Head Start grants.
Click the magnifying glass at the bottom right to view the entire document.
“Reported Head Start violations for Memphis-Shelby County Schools” is courtesy of the federal Office of Head Start.
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Memphis-Shelby County Schools Head start early childhood education Department of Health and Human Services Subscriber OnlyAre you enjoying your subscription?
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Laura Testino
Laura Testino is an enterprise reporter on The Daily Memphian’s metro team who writes most often about how education policies shape the lives of children and families. She regularly contributes to coverage of breaking news events and actions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Testino’s journalism career in Memphis began six years ago at The Commercial Appeal, where she began chronicling learning disruptions associated with the pandemic, and continued with Chalkbeat, where she dug into education administration in Memphis. Her reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Times-Picayune, The Tuscaloosa News and USA Today.
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