Agreement could be near on Head Start funds

Partners to meet Wednesday to hammer out budget details

The rift between two governing bodies that deal with Head Start funds could be mended this week, possibly averting the loss of $12 million in federal funds for the Moncks Corner-based agency that oversees the program.

The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Counties Head Start and Early Head Start Policy Council will meet Wednesday to review the budget. The Policy Council must sign off on the current year's budget by Jan. 31.

The Policy Council, which is made up of parents and community members, and Berkeley-Dorchester Counties Economic Development Corp., which runs the Head Start program, have been at odds for months over the spending plan.

Under federal guidelines, the Policy Council must be a part of the budgeting process. Policy Council leaders say they have not been fully included in the decision-making process in the past and want to make sure they are not excluded, said Val Patrick, chairwoman of the Policy Council.

The Head Start program serves about 1,650 children in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, and the possible loss of funds for the operating agency would not affect the students. Should the Policy Council decide not to sign off on the budget by Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Head Start program on the federal level, would decide what local agency would run the program.

The budget was supposed to be approved by Dec. 31, but the Policy Council said it was not getting answers to its questions, so HHS extended the deadline one month.

Since Jan. 8, when The Post and Courier began asking questions about the budget, the two groups have held several fruitful meetings, according to both Patrick and Levy Berry, vice chairman of the Berkeley-Dorchester Counties EDC.

"We worked on the budget together the way it should have been done in the beginning," Patrick said. "The meetings were long, hard and successful. It was the first time I had seen this work the way the federal government says it should work. The budget has now been balanced."

Berry emphasized the approaching deadline.

"A lot of work went into this," he said. "Hopefully, there will not be a problem. If there is an impasse, we will run out of time."

If the Policy Council does not approve the budget by month's end, federal officials from Health and Human Services will step in. If they decide the Policy Council acted inappropriately in not signing off on the budget, they will award the funds to the Berkeley-Dorchester Counties EDC. If they decide that EDC acted inappropriately, they will award the funds to another agency to run the program.

Reach Warren Wise at 745-5850 or wwise@postandcourier.com.