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Head Start provider warns county against displacing Roanview child-care site as emergency management option
Summary
Intermountain Children's Services told commissioners that the Roanview (courthouse-adjacent) Head Start and daycare site serves dozens of at-risk children, that its lease expires June 30, and that relocation or replacement would take years and roughly $1.4 million to construct a compliant new facility, according to agency estimates.
Intermountain Children's Services (ICS), the Head Start grantee serving northern Mitchell County, urged the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners not to displace the Roanview child-care facility as the county considers an emergency management use for the courthouse-adjacent building.
"Head Start currently has 16 children enrolled and day care provides services either through wrap around or full day care for 18 children," Tranika Ayers said, identifying herself as speaking on behalf of Intermountain Children's Services and answering commissioners' questions about the program's scope and relocation risks.
Ayers told the board the facility serves children in foster and kinship placements, children experiencing homelessness and families receiving public assistance. She said the agency maintains slots for emergency placements from the Department of Social Services and that the center operates under both Head Start and state child-care licensing rules.
On relocation and timing, Ayers said federal Head Start funding cycles and pre-application requirements would make moving or rebuilding difficult. She said a pre-application checklist for federal funding takes a minimum of one year and that a prior Head Start slot conversion took about 2.5 years. If the county did not renew the current lease (Ayers said the lease expires June 30), ICS would likely have to shift funded Head Start slots to their Burnsville location and could lose private day-care operations tied to the local facility.
Ayers provided a rough estimate for a compliant new facility: "With the known variables, we would estimate roughly $1,400,000 for a new build," and she said an adequate site would likely require at least a half acre and preferably about 1 acre.
Jennifer Simpson of the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children (the local Smart Start agency) gave historical context, saying federal and regional partners (including FEMA and the Appalachian Regional Commission) helped fund the original center after past floods and that the facility was designed to meet child-care licensing standards. Simpson warned that losing the site would reduce licensed child-care capacity in the county's north end and would likely have negative consequences for parents' ability to work and for children's safety and nutrition.
Local staff and parents reinforced those concerns in public comment. Tammy Odom, who identified herself as the daycare director, described the wrap-around hours the childcare site provides and said those extended hours enable parents who work later shifts to keep employment.
County chair and several commissioners acknowledged the emergency-management needs but repeatedly reassured the community that they do not want to displace children; the chair said he would not support displacing any child and asked staff to explore options and partnerships. Board members and EDC representatives suggested exploring coordinated solutions with partners, including the EDC, the Blue Ridge Partnership for Children and regional funders.
Next steps: commissioners moved to closed session on attorney consultation but before leaving invited staff to continue exploring options that would preserve child-care slots while meeting emergency management needs.
