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Anaconda Head Start proposes cutting management roles from five to three amid funding uncertainty
Summary
Anaconda Deer Lodge County Head Start sought commission approval of an MOU with the school district and proposed consolidating five management positions into three, citing difficulty filling vacancies and uncertainty over future funding; regional reviewers saw the job descriptions and commissioners asked about contingency plans.
Heidi Goretti, representing Anaconda Deer Lodge County Head Start, told the county commission she is recommending a change to the program's management structure for the current school year.
Goretti said Head Start previously had five management positions (fiscal, director, education coordinator, family engagement coordinator, health coordinator) and is proposing to reduce that team to three positions because hiring qualified candidates has been difficult. She said the fiscal position has already been eliminated and the family engagement coordinator role would be absorbed; the director, health and education functions would be combined into fewer posts.
The consolidation plan is supported by job descriptions and a flowchart submitted to the commission and reviewed by the region 8 management team, Goretti said. She added that the program relies on separate federal grant funding and the school district's early-childhood funding streams are distinct; Head Start staff said they have worked to avoid competition for enrollment and that any enrollment changes would take up to two years to address.
Commissioners pressed Goretti about contingencies if school-district funding ends for a related program; Goretti said the two entities are separate and that Head Start's federal grant funding differs from district funds. The county attorney noted the MOU covers the current 2024-25 school year and described the paperwork as formalizing cooperation that already exists between the agencies.
What happens next: The commission placed the MOU and the management-consolidation request on the agenda for formal action; Goretti agreed to file an updated flowchart with the county office by the next meeting.
