by Bea Peterson
Budget sequestration, or “the sequester,” means automatic spending cuts at the federal level. It will supposedly save the U.S. government billions of dollars a year. The cuts affect military and social programs. Check it out in Hoosick Falls.
[private]The CEO (Commission on Economic Opportunity) Head Start Center is closed for the summer. It closed on June 21 and will reopen September 4. Emily Cote, CEO’s Marketing and Communications Director, said the Hoosick Falls Center will be closed for an additional week at holiday time.
As a result of the closing 24 families were offered home based services. While these children will still be learning on an individual basis, they will not have the opportunity for interaction with other youngsters throughout the summer. Seven working families had to find other means of child care.
Nine of the staff were laid off. Two were offered home based teaching positions, and the cook was offered a position at another facility. The other staff members are receiving unemployment benefits. “We tried to minimize the cuts,” said Cote. “Head Start is our largest program, and it is important to us to maintain the quality of the program.”
There were cuts made to other County Head Start sites as well. Nationwide 77,000 low income children will be affected by the cuts in the Head Start programs.
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