BUTTE — Officials with a nonprofit based in Helena are informing parents in Whitehall that the local Head Start will shutter when funding dries up in June.
"Hard to imagine...I was just a little guy with long blond hair and pop-bottle glasses. I was physically, emotionally, and sexually abused as a child. My safe place was at Head Start," says Zach Zitnik, a father and foster parent of Whitehall Head Start children.
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In an emotional plea to keep the program, Zitnik joined about 20 other people gathered April 15 at the Whitehall library in support of the early childhood education program that helps America's most vulnerable young children to succeed in school and in life beyond school.
Officials with Rocky Mountain Development Council, the nonprofit that manages the Whitehall Head Start program, say the program is facing funding challenges due to changes at the federal level.
"Our program is currently facing significant funding challenges due to changes at the federal level. These changes are impacting Head Start programs across the country and are not the result of anything our local program, staff, or families have done wrong," says Rocky Head Start director Ashley Pena-Larsen.
"As much as we would love to be able to stay, it’s time for us to go," says Jaymie Hazel, the family and community partnerships manager for Rocky Mountain Development Council.
Low enrollment projections, high over-income enrollment, lack of a sustained waitlist, and high operational costs are some of the reasons for the proposed closure. Other factors include maintaining qualified staff and higher needs for the program in Helena.
Whitehall is the only Head Start within the Rocky Mountain Development Council's region that will close, but according to a recent report in USA Today, Head Start organizations across the nation are in danger of closing.
"There was potential information that had been received that Head Start was no longer going to be funded after the fiscal year 2026, and that is under the President’s wish list. However, we all know that Congress is the one that ultimately makes those decisions," says Pena-Larsen.
So far, six regional Head Start offices have been eliminated nationwide, according to a running list of Health and Human Services offices that shows hundreds of federal organizations that have been eliminated entirely or reduced to the point of non-functionality.
Montana’s Head Start regional office which is located in Denver, is not on that list.
During the meeting with Whitehall parents, Pena-Larson encouraged the group to pursue opening their own facility that mirrors Head Start.
"So, because Head Start is a very microcosm of your community, right? Like, it’s just this little, tiny component and if you can privately fund and operate a facility that does something similar, you actually have the ability to open this up to everyone in your community," says Pena-Larsen.
Many parents expressed frustration, but one jumped on the idea of opening a facility that is like Head Start.
"I’m angry. I’m upset, but like, that fueled me in a different way, like when she was talking about that. I was like, oh my gosh, I’m so inspired," says Sadie Gooch, a Whitehall parent.
The board will hold a vote on the proposed closure at its upcoming meeting. If approved, the funding earmarked for Whitehall will be moved to Helena.
