Questions linger over Navajo Head Start
By Erny Zah
Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, Oct. 31, 2011
To date, it hasn't.
In addition, the Navajo program's administration has released very little details about the state of the program, its grant, or what's being done to fix it - including a 50 percent funding cut scheduled to for Nov. 1.
However, during the fall session of the Navajo Nation Council, President Ben Shelly raised the issue.
"I have some troubling news for you today," he said in his prepared speech. "The United States Department of Health and Human Services is investigating our Head Start program."
He added that the Navajo Nation has outlined a plan to "fix Head Start" but few details have been released about that plan or the status of Navajo Head Start in general.
Head Start, with student enrollment at about 2,100, which is about half of the level prior to 2006, is scheduled to have their funding cut from $28 million a year to about $14 million a year, according to a letter from federal Head Start Director Yvette Sanchez Fuentes.
The July letter states the funding cuts will begin on Nov. 1.
However, in efforts to retain higher funding levels, Shelly has met with Fuentes twice but no details about the meetings have been released.
Nor are any details about proposals to fix the situation being released because they are under "legal review," said Dawn Yazzie, an assistant to Shelly.
Though program has half the student population it had before, former Head Start director Spencer Willie has stated that it currently uses $24 million a year, which funds 96 centers and 40 home base locations and employs about 550 people.
Making matters worse for the program are recent compliance issues. With a grant that has more than 2,800 compliance items, the latest inspection stated that the program is still non-compliant with a few.
According to an Oct. 7 memo from Shelly to Head Start parents, a federal review completed in September found some outstanding deficiencies and non-compliance issues.
With all that said, Navajo officials are keeping quiet.
Repeated calls to the Department of Dine Education and Navajo Head Start Interim Director Delores McKerry were directed to the president's office.
In addition, calls to Camille Loya, acting regional program manager for the Office of Head Start, were routed to a full voicemail box.
As of Tuesday, much like two weeks ago, most details about Head Start's current status is under legal review, said Yazzie, who has been working closely with Head Start.
"Every single piece of information is going under legal review. That's why it's so difficult to share anything," she said.
She said the program is reviewing Navajo Nation personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements with Head Start employees.
"We're making sure we're going to make the right decisions," she said.
Nonetheless, in an advertised meeting with Head Start employees, Superintendent of Schools Andrew Tah announced that the Community Development Institute was now working with Navajo Head Start.
However, before anymore of his speech could be heard, the Navajo Times was escorted out of the meeting because it was a closed meeting designated for only Head Start staff.
CDI is part of federal Head Start and usually become the administrators of troubled Head Start grants.
An email was sent to Kenneth Wolfe, CDI public information officer, but wasn't returned by press time on Wednesday.
Yazzie said the people working on the issue are ensuring that services are not interrupted.
Before former President Joe Shirley Jr. left office, he wrote a memo to former Council Delegate Andy Ayze, who was chair of the former Education Committee.
In the May 4, 2010 memo, Shirley outlined two directives stemming from a prior meeting. One directed the committee to form legislation to create Navajo Head Start as a non-profit entity with separate financing, personnel and administrative offices.
The second directive was to research subcontracting Head Start to local schools "so the Program can continue to comply with federal requirements and ensure qualified and certified teaching staff available to operate the program at the local level," Shirley wrote.
Shirley's memo also invoked a resolution of support from the Navajo Nation Policy Council in September 2010, which supported Shirley's directive to make Head Start a semi-autonomous agency of the Navajo Nation.
However, when Yazzie was asked about these plans for Head Start, she said they haven't been in current discussions.