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Hawaii’s largest provider of a federally funded preschool program for low-income families resumed fully virtual education after only weeks back in the classroom as the Covid-19 outbreak hit some neighborhoods with Head Start programs particularly hard.
The Honolulu Community Action Program’s decision to end in-person learning on September 1 for all of its 76 Head Start classrooms, which have the capacity to serve 1,500 children in Oahu, contrasts with the closures ad hoc and temporary schools. quarantines across the Hawaii Department of Education.
Grant Kogami, director of the Head Start program, said the high number of coronavirus cases, which was driven by the aggressive delta variant, left administrators little choice.
“We have seen it grow exponentially,†Kogami said. “Overall, we just needed to do something to protect our children, our staff and our community. “
There is no set timeline for when HCAP’s Head Start classrooms could resume in-person services, but Kogami said the agency is “closely monitoring” the Covid-19 situation and will decide on it. result.
“I predict that if things improve we will reopen in the near future,” he said.
Hawaii reported 431 new cases on Monday, with a seven-day average of nearly 485 per day, down from numbers that topped 1,000 earlier this month. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital also fell to 302, but many were in intensive care or on ventilation. The death toll remained at 714 after days of double-digit increases.
Smooth transition
Most Head Start classrooms provided virtual education throughout the 2020-21 school year, so the transition wasn’t too difficult, according to Kogami.
Still, teacher Roxanne Bell will miss the live sounds of the 14 children laughing, playing and interacting in her classroom when the school year began in early August.
“Oh my God, it was very emotional,†said Bell, a Head Start teacher at the Kamehameha Schools Community Learning Center, based in Waianae, Maili. “I felt like a teacher again. It was fun to hear them laugh, cry, scream, kick, it was just fun. Our team missed that, we missed the kids.
Some of the children who did not speak when they entered school were able to start formulating sentences during the short time they were in school, she added.
“We just needed to do something to protect our children, our staff and our community. Grant Kogami of the Honolulu Community Action Program
As part of the new HCAP policy, she meets for one hour each week with each of her students via Zoom, organizing activities such as a welcome song and dance, math and literacy classes, interactive games and monitoring of the well-being of parents. The enthusiasm of the children did not falter.
“They see us (the staff) when they walk into the Zoom. They are shy, they flit around, hide, jump up and down, with such joy, â€she said.
Despite the loss of in-person social interaction, Bell said she believes HCAP made the right decision due to security concerns. The Covid-19 vaccine is only available for ages 12 and over.
“I was relieved,†Bell said of the change. “Thinking that children could contract the virus from our Head Start class didn’t suit me. I know it might have been difficult for (some families), but when you think of these babies, they’re only 3, 4, 5 years old.
Pfizer said on Monday it could apply for emergency use authorization to use the vaccine it jointly developed with German BioNTech in children aged 5 to 11 by the end of the month, although that the results of vaccine trials for children under 5 may not arrive until the end of the year.
Class case
Concerns increased last month as Covid-19 spread rapidly in Waianae, Ewa, North Shore and on the Windward side, correlating with a high number of unvaccinated people in these communities, according to Kogami. Many cases “directly involved our students and their Head Start families in their lives outside of the classroom,” the agency said on its website.
It was a difficult turning point between June and July, when the agency managed 44 in-person classrooms in Oahu during a special summer session for around 500 young learners and saw no cases of Covid-19 in class.
This changed in August when face-to-face learning began in all HCAP classrooms. In the first three weeks of the month, HCAP had two staff members and 12 children in its Head Start classrooms tested positive for Covid-19. Another seventy cases were considered close contacts of positive cases, which largely came from outside the classroom, Kogami said.
When the agency called for a return to virtual education, the reaction from families was “very positive,” he added. “They understand, they are very grateful for the decision that was made. There are a handful who have expressed concern.
Head Start and Early Head Start for Infants and Toddlers are federally funded child development programs for families that meet federal poverty guidelines. For a family of four, the eligible annual income is capped at $ 30,480.
Unlike standard preschool, Head Start offers other support services such as meals, medical and dental care, including eye and hearing screenings and family engagement programs.
“We see ourselves as a comprehensive model of child development services. Because our demographics are very low and vulnerable, this is a comprehensive service model, for the whole child, the whole family, multigenerational, â€said Christine Jackson, director of the Hawaii Head Start Collaboration Office.
Almost a quarter of children enrolled in HCAP Head Start programs are English language learners, while nearly half are native Hawaiian or native Pacific Islander, according to a 2017-18 data snapshot. .
Inscription down
Demand for Head Start spaces is generally high, but some of Hawaii’s largest Head Start providers have said enrollments have plummeted this year, in part over fears of sending children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated back into the country. educational institutions. The need for child care has also decreased as more parents are staying at home.
At the start of the school year, HCAP’s Head Start program was at 70% of capacity, compared to 90% on average, Kogami said. HCAP made vaccinations mandatory among its employees so that 95% of the staff were vaccinated while the rest received a religious or medical exemption.
Parents and Children Together, another nonprofit operator of 24 Head Start classrooms in Honolulu and the island of Hawaii, said their classrooms were generally almost full, but enrollment numbers were low. fell to around 60% this year. This organization continued to provide in-person services.
Each Head Start agency operates independently and has the power to make decisions regarding the closure of classrooms.
“Whether it’s exposure to Covid or staffing, everything is on the move right now,†said Ben Naki, Head of Head Start and Early Head Start Programs at PACT and President of the Head Start Association of Hawaii. “It’s managing it from day to day, trying to be as prepared as possible. Overall, we want to do what’s best for the community, and we know that staying involved in the community is important for families.
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