Head Start Funding Slashed in USVI Amid Enrollment Drop, DHS Plans Appeal
Funding for Head Start in the Virgin Islands has been cut by over $2 million due to under-enrollment in the program, lawmakers on the Committee on Health, Hospitals, and Human Services learned on Tuesday. “The funded enrollment and grant funding will be reduced to 637 and $8,304,673 respectively,” said Department of Human Services Commissioner Averil George.
2025-05-28 12:27:38 - VI News Staff
Prior to the reduction, Head Start was funded based on a count of 794 students. Current enrollment, however, is 631 students, 20.5% below the funded capacity. “This has been an ongoing challenge for Head Start programs across the nation since reopening from the COVID pandemic,” Ms. George noted.
“The reduction is effective immediately but the program has the option to appeal this decision, and we plan to do so,” Ms. George explained. The appeal is due by June 19th.
Head Start “promotes the school readiness of children from low-income families.” It “gives program-eligible children who might otherwise remain at home and unengaged, a head start in life by providing them with a high-quality, comprehensive early childhood education,” explained Ms. George. VIDHS has been the territory’s Head Start grantee for over fifty years. The department is expected to apply for “competitive federal grants every five years.”
Currently, VIDHS is in its final year of the grant, and it is due to reapply in 2026. Therefore, “the negative impact of this reduction on the final year of our five-year grant is expected to be minimal,” Ms. George says.
Notwithstanding the minimal impact, “we are not standing still in response to these changes,” George added. “Rather, we are actively working to position the program for long-term stability and success.” She clarified that “this funding was cut based on enrollment, not what is happening on the national level.”