Board OKs CDI use of Head Start sites

School board members raised no objection to a request from the Community Development Institute (CDI) to continue using buildings and property the system owns for Head Start purposes.
The lease transfer, taken up during a special board meeting last Wednesday, Aug. 16, is one of several legal and procedural steps CDI must take before opening the 2017-18 Head Start program in St. Martin, Iberia and Lafayette parishes.
CDI was directed by the U.S. Department of Health and Hospitals to take over the program last month after DHH officials stripped SMILE of the program, citing unresolved child abuse complaints and reports of safety violations on some Head Start campuses.
CDI representative Jerome Lee explained to board members the procedure the non-profit organization follows in taking over temporary operation of Head Start programs at the direction of DHH.
He said that CDI usually brings in a new director when it takes over a program but will likely retain 80 to 90 percent of the existing employees. “We’ve had staff in training for the past two weeks,” he said, “and our goal is that the skill level of employees will be improved.”
A federal judge last week denied an effort by SMILE officials to retain control of the local Head Start program, clearing the way for CDI to proceed with its plans.
Lee indicated that CDI usually operates a system for a year while DHH seeks a permanent replacement to take over Head Start.
Last year SMILE received about $17 million in federal funds to operate the Head Start program in three parishes, serving around 1,500 children.
Head Start locations in St. Martin Parish partially or wholly owned by the school board include the Huron Center on the Coteau Rodaire Highway north of Cecilia, the George Washington Carver Center on Carver Street in Breaux Bridge, and the St. Martinville Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in St. Martinville.
The Head Start program also leases a facility on Grand Point Avenue in Breaux Bridge from John Tabor Jr. for its Early Head Start program, paying $900 per month rent.
The school board allows use of its property at no charge to SMILE.
DHH inspectors have reportedly found a number of safety violations at various Head Start facilities, including exposed wiring, unlit pilot lights, failing ceilings, an inoperable sewer system and insects in food areas.
The sewer system cited was at the Huron Center but school board member Richard Potier, who also serves on the SMILE board of directors, down played the seriousness of that discrepancy.
“Those pumps go out from time to time,” he said. “And can easily be replaced.”
Potier recused himself from voting on the motion to allow CDI to use the school system’s property to continue operating the Head Start program.