During a recent recess outside the Logan/Lidgerwood Head Start Center in North Spokane, kids rode tricycles, threw toys and rolled in the grass. If not for the patient teachers spread out around the yard, the scene could have been pure chaos.
Next year, it might be.
The Trump administration, which funds Head Start, is considering making changes to the program’s accountability and performance standards. The administration is proposing removing mandates that enforce certain requirements, such as class size maximums and teacher ratios.
The federal government claims its proposed changes will make life easier for local Head Start programs by reducing bureaucracy and putting the program firmly in state and local hands.
Chancellor of Spokane Colleges Kevin Brockbank disagrees.
“We recognize the value of providing local programs with some flexibility, but flexibility should not come at the expense of the quality and safety and comprehensive approach to early learning,” Brockbank said.
Spokane Colleges administers Head Start’s grant. The district, which has 11 Head Start centers, has served about 700 children annually since 1965.
Brockbank said that if federal changes go into effect, the district could be forced to serve more children — without the guarantee of more funding.
The federal government also proposed capping administrative costs at 5%, down from 15%.
To fulfill that, Spokane centers could end up cutting programs, staff and service hours to make the best use of limited funds, Brockbank said.
The Trump administration counters that these cuts would save money that could go toward serving more students.
Spokane Head Start District Director Bobbi Woodral said the majority of her students come from low-income families. Others are unhoused, and about a third have developmental disabilities.
Woodral and others argue that Head Start “levels the playing field” for underserved kids. The program offers not just education, but health screenings, behavioral management and nutrition services.
When Head Start parent Nicci Gooch first put her son Jaxon in the program, he was three years old. He was nonverbal, had behavioral issues and was biting other kids.
Then he failed a hearing test that Head Start provided.
Gooch said that if Head Start hadn’t offered the test, she wouldn’t have known why Jaxon was struggling. But because they did, she was able to work with a doctor to get tubes in Jaxon’s ears.
“Within two weeks, he was verbal, completely stopped biting,” she said. “And it turns out it wasn’t behavioral; it was a medical situation.”
Jaxon is now 13 and thriving, Gooch said. When she considers the federal government’s proposed rule changes, she’s scared that other children may not get the help they need.
“If they were to take away any of those early intervention screenings that Head Start provides, how are we going to set these children up for success when they move to kindergarten?” she said.
If the rules do pass and Spokane Head Start does end up serving more students, administrators say they will try to increase outside grant funding.
Spokane District Director Bobbi Woodral said the district already brings in about $16.8 million dollars annually from state and local grants.
“We're always reaching out to diversify our revenue streams so that we can better serve the children,” she said.
Woodral and Brockbank also have more existential concerns. In 2025, USA Today reported on a federal proposal to defund Head Start altogether. Although that never came to pass, Woodral and Brockbank worry that the current proposed rule changes take Head Start a step closer to losing all federal funding.
That would throw the program’s future into question.
“The options of how to change funding or get those things from the state or everything, those are really limited,” Brockbank said. “And with the size and impact of this program, it would be almost impossible to duplicate it without that federal funding.”
At a press event Wednesday, Brockbank choked up as he addressed federal lawmakers directly.
“If you have not been part of Head Start, get yourself to a policy council, tour a facility and tell me if it's worth it then,” he said. “It's not debatable what the return on investment is there.”
Public comment on the proposed rule changes will be open until October 6.
This story was edited with support from the Northwest News Network, a partnership of public media stations in the Pacific Northwest.
