By Jennifer Moody
For Lebanon Local
Kidco Head Start’s unexpectedly long spring break finally ended this month, with the release of federal funding allowing the doors to reopen at all 13 of its mid-valley centers.
However one of the centers – Riverside, in Albany – has reopened only for a partial schedule because of staffing issues. And parents, staff and Executive Director Stephany Koehne remain concerned about the overall future of the federally-funded nonprofit.
“We are financially good through December of 2025,” Koehne said. “I say that because we don’t know what Fiscal Year 2026 is going to look like.”
The Trump administration appears to have changed its mind about eliminating funding entirely for Head Start, something an internal budget proposal had mentioned as a possibility last month. The 2026 budget proposal released May 2 no longer included that possibility.
However, layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services have closed five regional Head Start offices, including the Seattle office, which serves Oregon. National officials say they remain worried about children and parents in their programs.
“While Head Start is grateful that it was not explicitly eliminated in this skinny budget proposal, we are concerned about the significant cuts that threaten access to health services, education, and support for hundreds of thousands of families,” the National Head Start Association posted in a May 2 statement on its website.
Koehne said she’s concerned, too.
“We are working very hard right now making sure people know that if indeed they are in support of Head Start, that they contact their congress members and let them know that defunding Head Start will be quite impactful,” she said.
Head Start is celebrating its 60th birthday this year. The school-readiness and comprehensive social services program includes Early Head Start, launched in 1996 to provide free services to expectant mothers and to children from birth to age 3. Overall, it serves more than 800,000 children nationwide and employs some 275,000 staffers.
Designed specifically for preschoolers from low-income families, Head Start includes academics, free medical and dental care, meals and parent education.
The Sweet Home School District’s program was one of the nation’s first 50 original grantees. In 1977, the program expanded to become “Kids & Company,” or Kidco, and grew to include centers in Lebanon, Sweet Home, Albany, Corvallis, Harrisburg and Philomath.
Mid-valley parents had a taste of what a Head Start closure feels like when the 13 centers closed for spring break in late March and didn’t reopen until May 14.
Kidco serves 366 children and families and employs about 130 people, Koehne said. It receives about $4.8 million in federal funds, usually distributed in two parts.
The second part of the funding for Fiscal Year 2025, though allocated, was not released on its usual timeline, Koehne said. At the same time, Kidco had begun a new program-wide year-round schedule, and while Koehne had budgeted for a price increase of about 15%, costs spiked to about 35%.
Program policy councils agreed with Koehne on a plan to consolidate all the closures scheduled throughout the year into one long spring break. This was both to save money and to give the government time to release the remaining funding for the fiscal year.
With the help of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, Koehne said, those funds have now come through the pipeline. In the meantime, however, Riverside suffered staffing losses because of the uncertainty.
And while the White House isn’t currently talking about dismantling Head Start, conflicting executive orders are keeping Koehne on edge.
“We have a lot of executive orders that say we must not do anything involved with diversity, equity and inclusion; basically banning it,” she said. “However, our performance standards passed by Congress says we have to provide it.”
Head Start agencies risk losing their designations if, among other things, they don’t provide “culturally competent services,” ensure full accessibility and individual support for children with disabilities, prioritize children who are homeless, recruit diverse staff members and ensure communication with families who use more than one language.
“So now we have these competing pressures on us,” Koehne said. “If don’t do this, we’re violating a law.”
The American Civil Liberties Union has joined parent groups nationwide in filing a lawsuit against the federal government, calling anti-DEI executive orders “unconstitutionally vague” and asking for protection for Head Start. But the outcome of that suit is far from certain.
“It is a complex situation, and there are lots of rumors out there because there’s just so much happening,” Koehne said.
One of the myths she’d like to bust is that Head Start is “just preschool,” or “just child care,” things she hears from time to time.
Meant specifically for preschoolers from low-income families, Head Start includes an academic program, free medical and dental care, meals and parent education.
“We don’t just provide preschool. We provide hearing screenings, health screenings, nutritional resources, connections to community resources, help with family goals, connections to GED programs – we’re truly a comprehensive social services program,” Koehne said.
Kidco in particular is also an economic powerhouse, she added.
“That $4.8 million? Almost 100 percent goes back into the community,” she said. “We use local vendors. We have local staffers who own property and shop here. That money is going into our community, and our community will feel a loss.”
Pam Woytt, a home-based educator for Early Head Start in Albany, pointed out the social services Head Start provides extend far beyond the children in the programs. That’s been true for her personally, as well as the families she serves.
Two of Woytt’s sons, who are now grown, were in Head Start programs in Lebanon. When the youngest enrolled, a family advocate asked Woytt – then a stay-at-home mom – whether she was interested in going on to college.
“I was raised in poverty, and college was never discussed,” she said. “I grew up thinking only rich people went to college.”
Woytt said she was interested and decided she, too, wanted to work with families. She started taking classes for herself while her children were in Head Start, got a two-year degree and began working for Kidco in 2003.
That decision was a lifesaver, she said, a few years later when she and her husband divorced.
“Kidco gave me a career. If not for Kidco, I don’t know where I’d be,” she said. “I would have been left with no job training or degree.”
Woytt said she sees that same growth in the families she visits. She might see a parent achieve a degree or a family finally buy a home, but it’s also a step forward when she sees a mom battling depression finally opening her curtains for the first time in months.
“We measure success by any step forward. Half a step is still a success,” Woytt said.
And, she added, “The true success story is if in one or two generations, those families don’t qualify for Head Start anymore.”