Video: Parents Upset About HeadStart Schools Closing

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – This is a developing story that we first brought to you Wednesday.

Head start and early Head start classes operated by Central Mississippi, Inc. in Montgomery, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes and Webster have all been suspended.

This news leaves parents left wondering why? And what are they going to do next?

“It’s a slap in the face,” Stephanie Peples said

“everybody is upset,” Crystal Ward said.

“we were done wrong,” Peples said.

Parents in Winona are left stunned after receiving this letter, telling them classes at Duck Hill Head Start are cancelled.

Lashonda Fowler has a granddaughter that attends the school, and explains how she first heard of the news.

“The bus came up and blew the horn, which I’m very familiar with when the bus pulls up in the yard, and soon as she got off the bus, ‘school closed down grandma,’ I said what they closed the school down for, and she gave me the letter,” Fowler said.

The letter gives parents a number to call to answer their questions, but when they called, it was a recorded message that says what is ALREADY printed on the letter.

“something fishy going on,” Ward said.

Parents are left confused, wanting to know why their child can’t go to school and say they aren’t getting any answers.

“My son is one of the children that will be transitioning into kindergarten, and this right here, anyone knows if you miss anything its, you can’t get that time back, our children can not get this time back,” Peples said.

Parents say they are now faced with missing or work or finding a baby-sitter.

“I’m a disabled single mom, It’s really hard to try and come up with 75, 80 dollars a week when you’re on a fixed income once a month to pay for daycare,” Fowler said.

“Don’t punish the kids, they ain’t did nothing wrong,” Ward said.

Parents remain hopeful they’ll soon have a better understanding why the Head Start Centers closed.
The office of headstart is located within the department of health and human services in Washington, DC.

Today they sent us a detailed statement explaining why they decided to close the schools.

Violations include Mold spores in a center kitchen, water stains and water hazards in more than one center, the lack of fire alarm pull boxes, extreme safety hazards inside centers and on playgrounds and apparent misuse of federal grant money.

Here’s what happens next. The Office of Head Start in Washington is suspending the federal grants for the centers in Montgomery, Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes and Webster Counties for 30 days.

A follow-up review will be conducted. This is to determine if Central Mississippi Inc can fix the problems and resume operations.