Published: Sep. 02, 2026, 10:08 a.m.
By Nicole Blais, CEO, HCS Head Start
My connection to Head Start began at Parkside Early Learning Center in Ludlow, where my teacher was Janis Santos. Decades later, after Janis had devoted 49 years to HCS Head Start, I became the CEO of the organization she had helped lead.
It was a full-circle moment. More than that, it reminded me what Head Start can do: create relationships and opportunities with an impact that can last a lifetime.
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That mission is now at the center of a consequential national debate. A proposed federal rule, “Reducing Federal Burden for Head Start Programs,” would significantly revise the current Head Start Program Performance Standards in an effort to reduce federal bureaucracy, defer more often to state policies and give local agencies greater control.
These goals may sound reasonable, but many of these changes could reduce the supports and services that children and families need and rely on.
For more than 60 years, HCS Head Start Inc. has worked alongside children, families, educators and communities. That history is not simply a measure of longevity. It is a record of continuous quality improvement — using research, data, family experience and professional expertise to examine our work, learn what produces better outcomes and act on that knowledge.
When we know better, we do better.
We should look for ways to make Head Start more efficient, flexible and responsive. However, we cannot make the program better for children by weakening the very standards that protect quality. The proposal would allow larger class sizes, lower teacher qualification requirements, eliminate critical comprehensive service requirements, reduce meaningful and effective support for families and make it more difficult for some of our most vulnerable community members to access Head Start.
These changes do not increase flexibility. They simply make it harder for our program to serve this community in the ways we do best. These high standards are not arbitrary complications. They are the conditions that allow children to be healthy, ready to learn and successful.
At HCS, we have administered Head Start and state-funded early education and care programs side by side for decades. We value both and understand the essential role child care plays. We also know from experience that Head Start is more than child care. Its comprehensive model recognizes that a child’s learning cannot be separated from health, development, family, or community.
When people picture Head Start, they often picture a teacher sitting on the floor with a group of preschoolers. That picture is real — but incomplete. Behind that classroom is an entire network of support. In 2026, HCS provided services to 545 preschoolers from more than 505 families. Upon enrollment, 65% of parents were working, and by the end of the school year, that figure had risen to 74%. This increase reflects parents moving toward greater economic stability and families building their capacity to provide for themselves. At the same time, we supported 166 preschoolers with diagnosed chronic health conditions.
We served 72 children with Individualized Education Programs and referred another 48 children for additional services. In addition, 17% of children were experiencing homelessness upon enrollment. Support staff worked alongside families to set goals, navigate health and developmental systems, connect with community resources and ensure that children received the support they needed to learn and grow. Much of this work never appears in a classroom photograph or a simple enrollment number. But it is precisely this comprehensive support that makes Head Start work.
Head Start can and should evolve. But we cannot disregard everything the program has learned, built, and improved over more than 60 years and pretend that knowledge does not exist. How can we recognize that children thrive when comprehensive support is in place, then propose a diminished version of the very model that produced those results?
What I know for sure is this: investing in children, families and staff changes the trajectory of lives. Children arrive at kindergarten healthier, more confident and ready to learn. Families gain the resources, relationships and stability they need to move forward. Educators have the support to do demanding, essential work well.
And children who might otherwise begin school already behind have a real opportunity to get a true head start before kindergarten. That is not an extra benefit of Head Start — it is the national commitment we need to protect.
Nicole Blais is chief executive officer of HCS Head Start Inc.