Officials warn of service cuts at nine schools without supplemental funding

Council staff and HHS staff told the committee that the supplemental appropriation would preserve nursing coverage at nine school sites and help the county comply with Head Start health requirements. The packet identified five contractual nurses as the primary subject of the request and noted that DHHS had temporarily reallocated internal funds to maintain those positions since the start of the school year.

"If without the funding for the nurses there could be service reductions at 9 schools listed on page 5, as well risk potential non compliance status with Head Start mandates," Nicole Rodriguez Hernandez said. Anais, Senior Administrator for Early Childhood Services, said the department’s goal is to serve the number of children approved by the grant (450 in MCPS and 75 community-based) and acknowledged community fear and pending federal guidance are driving enrollment uncertainty: "So our goal is to always to strive to be at capacity... We do have to recognize as well that there is a fear in our communities," she said.

The committee heard that last year DHHS used three merit nurses and about seven contractual nurses to serve approximately 648 enrolled children; due to program changes and focus on full-day seats, the approved grant this year reduces MCPS seats and the contractual nurse need to five. Committee members asked for more detail on which programs HHS had reallocated funds from and how that might affect other services; the department was asked to provide those clarifications in follow-up materials.