TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – The future of the Toledo-Lucas County Head Start program is uncertain, and it's not known who will be filing the grant application for the next round of federal funding.
The program is currently operated by the Economic Opportunity Planning Association.
Toledo Public Schools is considering being part of the next application, therefore Toledo Mayor Mike Bell brought all parties together on Friday to discuss the situation.
"All we want to do is the best thing for our kids. This was about bringing everybody together so we can talk about how we do this in a collaborative way." says Mayor Bell.
More than 20 people attended the meeting, including former Mayor Jack Ford, State Senator Edna Brown and UT President Dr. Lloyd Jacobs.
No decisions have been made as to how the next grant application will be filed, but everyone WTOL 11 caught up with say the goal is making sure the program does what it sets out to do, which is help children ages 3 to 5 from economically challenged backgrounds to be ready to go to school.
"We know there's a lot of interest for the Head Start grant. The consensus in the meeting was number one, we're looking at the advancement of children first. We want them ready for Kindergarten." says TPS Board Member Brenda Hill.
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