Improvement Association asks Dinwiddie supervisors for help replacing aging Head Start modulars

The Improvement Association urged the Dinwiddie County Board of Supervisors to help replace outdated modular classrooms used by the county’s Head Start program, saying current units are “not conducive for children.” Rufus Tyler, executive director of the Improvement Association, told the board the program serves 48 children in three classrooms behind Southside Elementary and provides home visits, parent conferences and developmental supports designed to prepare children for kindergarten.

Tyler and fiscal officer Mary Barracourt presented cost estimates for replacement units and said the association believes purchasing is more cost-effective than leasing. "One modular is $266,400," Barracourt said, and she walked the board through options that would reduce four existing modulars to two by reconfiguring classroom and office space. She added the lease option would average about $2,300 per month for a new unit and that leasing two units over 10 years could cost roughly $552,000 versus about $532,000 to purchase two outright.

Board members praised the program’s outcomes and said they had inspected the modulars. A supervisor who visited the site said “something needs to happen for sure,” but no immediate funding commitment was made; presenters asked staff and supervisors to consider partnership options and follow up. The presenters emphasized the direct family supports Head Start provides, including 144 home visits and 48 parent-teacher conferences so far this year, and said replacing the modulars would create a safer, more stable learning environment.

The presentation was delivered during the meeting’s outside-agency reports; county staff did not present a specific financing plan on the record. The Improvement Association asked the board to consider assistance to purchase new modular classrooms and offered to provide further cost details and next steps if the board requested them.