Layoffs Likely Averted for Santa Clara Office of Education’s Head Start Staff

With funding set to expire Monday for the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Head Start program, some 275 laid-off workers showed up in the morning to clean out their desks and collect their last paychecks.

But they received a Hail Mary from the county’s superintendent of schools, who emailed at 9:25 a.m. saying that the federal government renewed two grants needed “to continue supporting the program without disruption to services for our youngest learners.”

As a result, the Head Start classrooms that were set to close are expected to reopen Tuesday, said Mercedes Hill, who helps administer the program for the SCCOE.

She said she felt “huge relief” upon hearing the news.

“We kind of knew [funding] was coming, but there was always that piece of [what] if it wasn’t?” she said. “I think the best news is that we don’t have to break services.”

The SCCOE cited funding uncertainties under the Trump administration when it issued layoff notices in March, saying it had not heard whether its $38 million grants to operate Head Start and Early Head Start would be renewed.

That uncertainty, combined with the reduction in funding for the office’s migrant education and special education services, meant that about 275 workers (the majority of them Head Start staff members) were told their last day of work would be June 30.

Veronica Arellano, a parent advocate for Head Start, said as recently as Friday, she was warning parents who were trying to enroll for the new year that the program was still waiting for more funding.

“The uncertainty was really hard for families who are part of our year-round program,” Arellano said. “They’re like ‘oh, we’re praying that hopefully you guys don’t close your doors because I really don’t have a Plan B here and it would ultimately have to come down to me staying home with my child.’”

In his email, Toston said while the grants ensured continuity for some 1200 low-income families enrolled in Head Start, “some individuals will still be impacted by staffing reductions.”

Arellano said that while she was happy to hear her job would most likely be saved, she was angry that the SCCOE put its employees through “a roller coaster of emotions.”

Already, the layoff notices prompted some colleagues to retire early or to look for work elsewhere.

“I don’t think it was necessary to put our staff and our families through all of that, but hopefully in the future this won’t happen again,” she said.