When a parent has children who are success stories of the Head Start program, as were mine, the parent becomes a life-long champion for the program. I watched the Head Start Policy Council meeting held on August 8 with great dismay. The number of inaccuracies that were quoted as fact were overwhelming. Determining which misstatement was most egregious is an impossible task. While there were multiple Policy Council members present for the meeting, it was apparent that Chairwoman Shirley Layton and Dr. Gloria Smith were using the meeting as a platform for advancing their own personal agendas. I was not surprised to read a story online posted by a Shreveport T.V. station that Councilwoman Patsy Ward Hoover has her fingerprints all over this debacle.
Knowledge is power. That being said, there is a huge difference between being able to read and comprehending what you read. I’ll gladly admit that I can read a scientific journal on astrophysics but I probably would not have a clue about what was being discussed.
Clearly, Ms. Layton and Dr. Smith do not comprehend the Home Rule Charter, State Statutes, portions of the Head Start Act and the Fair Standards Labor Act. Section 3-10(10) of the Home Rule Charter gives the Parish President the authority to appoint, suspend, discipline or remove for just cause all parish government employees. The Parish Council is the legislative branch of the government and is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the Parish.
At the Policy Council meeting, Dr. Smith berated the Parish’s human resource representative about the teachers having to put in extra time on one Saturday for parent orientation and had the audacity to compare it to slave labor. Dr. Smith should educate herself before she speaks and I personally think she owes the H. R. representative an apology. Anyone can go online and read the FLSA, which states in 29 USC 213(a)(1) that teachers are exempt from the overtime requirements. Dr. Smith also claimed that the threshold for the minimum salary for exempt employees had been raised in 2016. She is correct that a rule was issued, but the rule has never taken effect. In fact, the Department of Labor released a Request for Information on July 25th which, in essence, starts the whole process of revising the overtime rule all over again.
“…The rule hasn’t taken effect because of a federal court injunction. In June, the DOL announced that it had decided not to defend the rule in court….”
Perhaps the most egregious misstatements made at the meeting were those on the authority of the Policy Council and the make-up of the Governing Body, which includes the Parish President, whether they like it or not.
While the Governing Body develops the procedures for how members of the Policy Council are selected, certain Policy Council members were arbitrarily “voted off” of the Council because they would not advance a certain agenda. The Head Start Standards also stipulate that the Policy Council is responsible for the direction of the Head Start Program, including program design and operation, but the Standards do not give the Policy Council authority to run the program. In fact, the Standards clearly state that the Governing Body shall have legal and fiscal responsibility for the Head Start agency.
You cannot claim that you care about the children of Head Start while using them as a political pawn. Ms. Layton, Dr. Smith and Mrs. Hoover should be ashamed of themselves and they are doing our Parish a great disservice.
J. R. “Randy” Stelly
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Audit the books…Usually this kind of nonsense is a smoke screen for a bigger problem.
Mr Stelly, thank you for speaking out in truth and reason.
Hoover has a personal agend! She couldn’t care less about headstart much less the rest of the district she’s over. All you have to do is read the minutes of the meetings to see that. Her and the other two stooges vote different than the rest just to block\pass what they want to just to disagree! Useless needs to be gone!
NO ROOM FOR A POWER TRIP!
Another example of what’s wrong in Natchitoches. Sadly too many of our elected officials do not understand, nor care for the rule of law, and continue to meddle in the day to day operations of our governmental bodies. We are poorer for people that want to wield power they clearly don’t have. Thank you Mr. Stelly for stating what should be obvious.
I believe Mr. Stelly has accurately captured the essence of the Head Start Policy Council, and to this observer, any interest in a child’s education is secondary.
I believe Mr, Stelly needs to search more for the truth of Head Start and how it suppose to be structured, not just because he is Mr. Nowlin friend and he feels the need to defend him and how the Parish Council has plenty of mistakes with this program.
I would like to direct you to the HS site to read how HS suppose to be structured. The web site is ECLKC and get a better understanding of how it was designed for children and families. I was a part of that program for 37 years and loved every minute of it and it is still dear to my heart and to see it dragged through the mud like this, is heart breaking. This program have been successful for over 50 years and was never cut by any President that came since its inception. Without parents, there would be no Head Start and that’s why they an integral part of this program.
Very insightful report. Thank you Mr. Stelly.