Two Richmond-area school districts have given up their federal Head Start programs — as funding for a state- and locally-funded preschool program has grown.
Head Start, the longest-running national school readiness program in the country, serves children from birth to age 5 while also providing services for their parents.
However, preschool education experts say it doesn’t seem to be a trend.
Dawn Ault, executive director of the Virginia Head Start Association, told VPM News she isn’t aware of any other Virginia school divisions or organizations, aside from Monticello Area Community Action Agency in Charlottesville, that’ve given up their Head Start grants in recent years.
“Those are outlier situations,” she said.
About one-third of Head Start programs in Virginia are run by school divisions, with another third overseen by community action agencies, according to Ault. The remainder are run by other groups that are outside of community action groups or public schools.
Tina Alsop, director of federal programs for Henrico schools, said district leadership decided in early 2024 to let go of the district’s $1.6 million Head Start grant after 23 years of running the program.
She said the main driver for the decision was that the district had extra state funding available for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, an income-restricted state program that serves eligible 4-year-olds as well as some 3-year-olds.
Head Start is federally-funded, while the Virginia Preschool Initiative is state and locally funded.
“We had some VPI slots sitting on the table,” Alsop told VPM News, “so why not use those VPI slots sitting on the table?”
Alsop added that VPI, which is run by the Virginia Department of Education, allows greater flexibility than Head Start in how dollars may be used as well as which students can be served.
She said Virginia is “raising the bar” in terms of quality metrics for early childhood education. (Head Start is considered by many to be the “gold standard” of high-quality early childhood education.)
Alsop added that the state is not talking about scaling back preschool funding in contrast to conversations at the federal level.
In early 2025, early education advocates anticipated the White House would cut funding for Head Start after the Associated Press reported a leaked internal document had proposed eliminating the program. The program cost about $13 billion nationally in 2024.
Chesterfield County Public Schools cited similar reasons to Henrico’s for its decision to give up Head Start in 2025.
“Transitioning from three funding streams (Head Start, VPI and Title I) to two funding sources does not diminish the quality of CCPS prekindergarten programming,” a spokesperson for CCPS told VPM News via email. “It streamlines administrative requirements and operational efficiency.”
In a March 2025 press release, CCPS said, “Over the past two years, Head Start has increased staffing requirements while providing less overall funding; annual Head Start funding does not fully cover costs for required Head Start personnel.”
Both Henrico and Chesterfield schools say that giving up the federal grants did not negatively impact students. For both districts, Head Start only served 4-year-olds — the same age group served by the Virginia Preschool Initiative in those locations. So they wouldn’t be reenrolling in Head Start the following year because they would be transitioning to kindergarten.
“Students and families are still receiving wonderful support from the prekindergarten team, teachers, instructional assistants, and administrators,” a Chesterfield schools spokesperson wrote.
“We believe in it”
Virginia lawmakers passed legislation this year to analyze the overall health of Head Start programs across the state and issue a report by Dec. 1, 2026.
Del. Debra Gardner (D–Chesterfield) introduced the legislation.
“It’s a holistic program that takes care of nutrition, family needs, and we just don’t want to lose those funds,” Gardner told VPM News earlier this year.
The study will look into barriers to enrollment, like the program schedule and a lack of transportation. These issues have been cited by other school districts, including Richmond Public Schools, which has struggled to meet minimum enrollment numbers in past years (but is in compliance with federal enrollment requirements as of 2026).
For the state-ordered study, Erin Carroll, deputy superintendent of early childhood care and education for the Virginia Department of Education, told VPM News that the state will be looking at all-available data. The agency is also planning to conduct some focus groups with existing Head Start programs to ensure the report includes both qualitative and quantitative information.
While some school districts say they can provide uninterrupted, high-quality education without the federal program, Head Start providers like STEPS Inc. in Farmville don’t have any plans to give it up.
Jessica Lehman, STEPS’ director of early childhood education, said Head Start is the “core” funding stream for affordable childcare in Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Prince Edward and Nottoway counties — all of which face significant childcare shortages.
“We are invested 100% in Head Start, Early Head Start,” Lehman told VPM News. “We believe in it. We know the value that it brings. We’ve seen outcomes for our children and families. It is the center that every other piece of our program branches off of.”
She said Head Start funding has helped the organization to renovate some of its buildings — something the state funding didn’t provide for.
It also helped pay for the training and education of staff, including assistant program director Taneha Terry. Terry was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education with the help of Head Start funding.
It meant a lot to her – especially considering she’s the first person in her family to graduate high school. Terry’s parents were locked out of school in Prince Edward County during the Massive Resistance era.
“Being able to be that example for my family really meant a lot for my kids and for my nieces and nephews,” Terry said. “For them to see that there’s more out there.”
Terry also enrolled her two children in Head Start when they were 3 years old, and said they had great experiences. Now, she’s excited to continue to help support more families in the area who need childcare.
“It’s very needed here,” Terry said. “We need Head Start.”
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