Wymore Head Start Breaks Ground Amid Fears Over Cuts

By Gordon HopkinsOn Tuesday, April 15, 2025, Blue Valley Community Action Partnership (BVCA) broke ground, ceremonially and literally, on a new Head Start Center in Wymore, just one day before a draft of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal was leaked to news media. The budget as proposed would eliminate funding for Head Start.Breaking GroundWith current Head Start students and families in attendance, BVCA CEO Shari Weber said the process to fund and build a new preschool in Wymore began in 2020. “We continued to update and strengthen the grant application over the next four years,” Weber said.In September of 2024, the organization was awarded funding to build the center, along with a similar school in Geneva. Weber thanked staff and board members who played a critical role in securing the funding, and added contractor Ayers and Ayers has been outstanding to work with.The new 4,500 square foot building features two classrooms, a conference room that also serves as a storm shelter, office space, a modernized kitchen and a fenced-in playground.Wymore Head Start Site Leader Crystal Canfield said staff is ecstatic about the new building.“This is a blessing to our community,” Canfield said. The second classroom will allow for smaller class sizes, which gives both students and teachers the opportunity to excel, she added.“Our staff is amazing at what they do. They are hands down the best group of teachers I’ve ever seen,” Canfield said.Clearing the site began Tuesday afternoon. Weber anticipates Wymore Head Start to move into its new home as early as November.Draft BudgetIt is important to remember the proposal is a draft and not the final budget. The (NHSA) issued a statement on Thursday, April 17, “The National Head Start Association (NHSA) is deeply alarmed by the proposal to eliminate Head Start contained in the Department of Health and Human Services 2026 Discretionary Budget Passback, which leaked yesterday. While labeled ‘pre-decisional,’ the document says, very succinctly, ‘The Budget does not fund Head Start.’”Yasmina Vinci, executive director of NHSA, said, “This proposal does not reflect fiscal responsibility — it reflects a disinvestment in our future. Eliminating funding for Head Start would be catastrophic. It would be a direct attack on our nation’s most at-risk children, their well-being, and their families. It would end early learning, meals, vision, hearing, developmental screenings, and dental care for nearly 800,000 children. Communities nationwide would lose a vital foundation of their child and family support systems.”“Hundreds of thousands of parents wouldn’t be able to work, forcing them to choose between their livelihoods and a safe, reliable place for their children to grow and start on the pathway to success,” said Vinci. “We urge every parent, every American, and every believer in the American Dream to contact their elected officials to express their outrage about such a proposal.”Vinci added, “And we call on Congress and the administration to protect the integrity of a program that has lifted generations of families for decades.”NHSA is gathering signatures from current and former Head Start parents, caregivers and supporters for a letter to President Trump, opposing the cuts.BVCA RespondsShari Weber, CEO of BVCA, had this to say to FJN, “Head Start has had to fight to have funding restored several times in its history, and the program has lasted 60 years because it enjoys bipartisan support and people advocate strongly for it.”“Our plan is two-fold: We’ll move forward in preparation for the 2025-2026 school year. This means working to hit our enrollment numbers as we do every year, as well as constructing new Head Start centers in Wymore and Geneva,” said Weber. “BVCA will also advocate for Head Start, and we ask supporters of the program to do the same. Calls and letters to Nebraska’s federal delegation on our behalf are greatly appreciated. It is difficult to overstate everything Head Start, Early Head Start, and the Childcare Partnership Program do for low-income families in our service area. It is vital, not only for preschool students, but their families and communities as well.”Weber provided some examples of the value Head Start offers communities: “Head Start bolsters the rural workforce. In 2024, BVCA Head Start saved the families of 277 children an average $137 per week on childcare. That’s almost $5,000 over the course of the school year, per child. Three quarters of BVCA’s Head Start families have at least one parent working, in job training, or enrolled in school. Without that direct support those families may well be forced to abandon working toward their future to stay home with their children.” “BVCA family advocates work closely with parents in their homes to assist them in ways no other preschool program is designed to do. By the end of the 2024 school year, BVCA Head Start families reported feeling more secure than they had at the start of the school year almost categorically in their finances, transportation, parenting skills, ability to teach at home, maintain access to food, housing and mental health.” “BVCA Head Start promotes better health and therefore less cost incurred by medical crisis to Medicaid and or CHIP. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, 37 students were up-to-date on age-appropriate preventative and primary healthcare. By the end of the year, that number was 177.” “BVCA Head Start directly supports families with children who may be diagnosed with disability. In the last school year BVCA had 49 Head Start students who had an individualized Education Program and every single one of the them received special education and related assistance through Head Start.”Weber said, “Eliminating Head Start and related programs would devastate thousands of families in the state of Nebraska. It’s not something we’ll accept without fighting to protect and grow this program, because we see every day what it does for families.”

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Hosts Drug Take Back Day Saturday

Bill to Fix Property Tax Relief “Glitch” Unlikely To Pass This Legislative Session

Related Articles

Voters Reject Tri County School Bond

Dead Man in the Ring: Part One

FPS Announces New Head Coach

Ricketts, Fischer Champion Relocating USDA to Nebraska