Closure threat not the first

The unfortunate idea of closing Early Head Start at Crosswalk also surfaced during my five-year tenure as EHS Crosswalk center manager. I was a daily witness to the extraordinary work done by staff with children and families.

Your article quotes enrollment numbers to bolster the contention of lack of need. Really? We reserved and filled a number of slots for Crosswalk children. To make it happen we couldn’t fully enroll opening day of the school year.

When the Bush administration, notoriously hostile to Head Start, required us to be fully enrolled on “day one,” we lost our ability to adjust our enrollment strategy. The Obama administration has restored support, creating possibilities for new ideas. In the lower South Hill, Browne’s Addition, West Hills and Peaceful Valley neighborhoods, there aren’t eight to 10 children who would benefit from EHS services? Really?

Creative outreach to those areas could tap that resource. It comes down to the value Community Colleges of Spokane places on providing services to the most vulnerable children in our community and finding creative solutions to maintain a robust program. CCS’s motto is “Dream, Discover, Do.” Did the administrators at the Institute for Extended Learning not get the memo?

Bernadette Powers

Spokane