CCSD presents FY26 Head Start/Early Head Start budget; committee asks for consolidated benefits breakdown

Charleston County School District staff presented the FY2026 Head Start and Early Head Start continuation budget and sought Audit & Finance Committee review before board approval and the March 1 federal submission deadline.

Ms. Foxworth outlined the proposed FY26 budget for Head Start/Early Head Start: a combined federal allocation of $12.1 million serving 728 children (480 three-year-old Head Start slots and 240 Early Head Start slots for 6 weeks to 36 months). Key budget elements include keeping instructional staff and family advocates on the CCSD salary schedule, funding substitutes, and professional-development participation in the Pyramid model for early childhood behavior supports. The budget request also seeks continued funding for market-based compensation adjustments the district is considering in the CCSD budget process.

Committee members focused questions on personnel costs and fringe benefits. A committee member noted an apparent fringe-benefit subtotal that equated to 77 percent of personnel on one tab of the federal template; district finance staff and program administrators explained that the federal application separates Head Start and Early Head Start budget worksheets and that benefits are subtotaled across both programs in different lines. Staff said total personnel and benefits combined across the two grant worksheets would bring the effective fringe rate closer to the district average (about 35 percent), and offered to provide a consolidated financial summary showing combined salaries and benefits for committee and board review.

Members also raised enrollment, facility, and contingency questions. Staff said Head Start operates at 12 facilities; most sites are embedded in elementary schools, with a single standalone facility (West Ashley Head Start on 61) owned by the grant and identified previously as a replacement candidate in capital planning. Staff said the FY26 award must be approved by the board in February for submission to the Office of Head Start before March 1; existing corrective actions tied to prior federal reviews have been addressed and, at present, do not threaten the FY26 allocation.

Ending: Staff promised a consolidated personnel-plus-benefits schedule for the board packet, and committee members asked staff to explore potential alternative philanthropic or partnership options while noting those options have historically been limited in scale.