TAMPA, Fla. — President Biden recently signed off on a package passed by Congress that includes a $1 billion increase for early childhood education, including Head Start. 

Hillsborough County Public Schools currently has over 1800 students in its Head Start program, and the district’s Director of Early Childhood Education, Dr. Emily Cimino, says the additional funds will help.

What You Need To Know

  • Bipartisan funding package includes $12.3 billion for Head Start & $8.7 billion for Child Care & Development Block Grants

  • Early Head Start, and Head Start, is for students ages 0-5 years old

  • Hillsborough County Schools has over 1800 students enrolled in its Head Start program

While the district does not know how much additional funding its set to receive, Dr. Cimino is optimistic.

“We will hopefully be the beneficiary of some of that increase in funding and we’ll put that utilization perhaps to maybe receiving more seats for our students, but if not that, we’ll allocate it to professional development, to making sure we have the cutting edge curriculum for students,” she said.

Dr. Cimino says the income-based program is all about setting up students for success at school, which can be seen through the youngest students at Sheehy Elementary School in Tampa. They’re not even in kindergarten yet, but already quite studious at just three and four years old.

“Exposure to literacy, to good content, and curriculum, being taught by a certified teacher, but additionally it’s the provision of medical support. We teach the kids how to brush their teeth, we make sure they’re eating healthy, that they’re on good sleeping regimens, and we support the family in getting those routines down,” said Dr. Cimino.

Dr. Cimino says head start is more than free child care for families—it’s proven to help increase students’ readiness rates. “Historically, the state of Florida has been around a fifty percent readiness rate, and providing early intervention services we can ensure that students are getting the exposure to quality education, getting them ready not only for the academic part of education, but they are student ready,” she said.

She says while they don’t know exactly how much additional funding Hillsborough County will receive, it will be money well spent, helping not only students, but their families, with the skills they need to be successful. 

The National Head Start Association says this will be a record investment for a total of $12.27 billion dollars for Head Start and Early Head Start in the fiscal 2024 year.