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Head Start coordinators brief Clarke County board on governance training and ERSEA changes
Summary
Head Start staff gave Clarke County’s board mandatory governance training and outlined changes to ERSEA selection criteria, including new adjustments for housing-cost burdens and continuity-of-care for enrolled expectant mothers.
Head Start and Early Head Start staff gave the Clarke County School Board an annual governance training and summarized updates to the program’s ERSEA (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance) selection criteria during the Feb. 13 meeting.
Angie Moon Davila, Early Head Start and Head Start coordinator, told the board the governing entity for the programs is the Board of Education and reviewed nine board responsibilities under the Head Start Act, including establishing selection criteria, approving funding applications, and reviewing financial management and audit follow-up. She said the district’s Early Head Start program is funded to serve 336 children and provides center-based, home-based, and services to expectant women.
Moon Davila described specific changes to selection criteria: the district will consider housing costs that exceed 30% of a family’s gross income when assessing eligibility for families otherwise over income; the program added points to support continuity of care for pregnant participants so infants born to enrolled expectant mothers do not remain on waiting lists; and the selection criteria were clarified to award priority points for children whose parents are incarcerated (the document distinguishes “detained” and “incarcerated” to better identify families in crisis).
Board members asked for a short summary of changes in the long ERSEA document; Moon Davila provided a concise explanation and said the full 38-page document remains available for review. She also said the program conducts annual audits and follows federal requirements for eligibility documentation and verification through ChildPlus, the student information system used for Head Start eligibility tracking.
Because federal law requires governance training, Moon Davila asked the board to keep the Head Start governance items on the agenda; the board voted to keep the related items on the consent agenda and later approved the consent agenda during the regular meeting.
What board asked for next: the board agreed to keep the policy council bylaws, ERSEA selection criteria, and governance training materials on the consent agenda and requested continued reporting on enrollment, waiting lists and monthly program outcomes.
