Montgomery County officials are concerned about changes to Head Start

Montgomery County officials say they are alarmed after the Trump administration proposed major changes to Head Start, a federally funded program that provides free educational and child development services to underprivileged children younger than 5.

“Local leaders and providers are deeply concerned that the proposed changes will reduce access to high-quality programs and pose operational challenges for Head Start providers,” Council President Natali Fani-González said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a proposed new rule this month. It would eliminate classroom ratios and reduce requirements for disability services and bilingual education, among other major changes. The program would focus more on nutrition and physical education, under a directive from the department’s secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Federal officials say they are reducing bureaucratic red tape and turning over control to local agencies, creating cost savings that will allow Head Start centers to serve more children.

But critics say the federal government is imposing new rules, including one likely to squeeze Maryland centers financially and force some to close. The new rules would reduce the amount of federal money that could go toward Head Start centers’ administrative costs from 15% of their funding to 5%.

In Montgomery County, a tough budget season this spring led officials to make difficult decisions about how much funding could go to community programming, particularly as federal funding dries up under Trump administration changes.

If the proposed Head Start changes are approved, they could create additional financial strain on the county as officials weigh whether they can increase funding for early-childhood programs.

Before HHS announced the proposal, some longtime grantees were facing challenges as the federal government held up the grant competition process, Education Week reported Tuesday.

“Head Start has been changing lives in Montgomery County for more than 60 years, giving kids a real shot at showing up to kindergarten ready to learn,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement. “These proposed changes don’t cut red tape, they cut into what makes the program work: qualified teachers, high-quality early learning, and a voice for parents.”

Head Start programs serve 7,000 children across the state. The programs are run by nonprofits that received more than $135 million in federal funds in 2025.

Fani-González called the department’s proposal “a direct attack on multilingual programs.”

“Requiring English-only instruction contradicts decades of research showing that students learn best by building on their home language first,” she said. “We can’t allow this latest proposed federal action to remove core safeguards for our children and destabilize families.”

Luedtke and Katz to host town hall on trash incinerator

County Council members Dawn Luedtke (District 7) and Sidney Katz (District 3) will host a town hall at 7 p.m. Sept. 2 in Rockville to hear community feedback on alternative waste processing proposals that would replace the county’s incinerator.

The County Council plans to decide the future of the Dickerson trash incinerator by Thanksgiving, Fani-González announced last month.

Elrich, whose tenure as county executive will conclude at the end of the year, campaigned in 2016 on closing the incinerator. As part of his fiscal year 2027 budget, Elrich wanted to divert trash to local landfills. But Fani-González said in March that she didn’t want to “rush a decision” as part of the budget process. The county’s contract with Reworld, the company that operates the incinerator, ends in 2031.

“This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime decision here,” Luedtke said during a July 28 council briefing on the issue.

The town hall, which will be hosted at the Montgomery County Department of Transportation’s Highway Services Depot, will give residents a chance to weigh in on solid waste options and ask questions of county officials.

“It is critical to assess potential impacts and concerns of all communities that would be affected by a change in how Montgomery County collects and handles trash,” Luedtke said in a Monday news release announcing the event.

Advisory Commission on Policing seeks feedback at upcoming forum

The county’s Advisory Commission on Policing will host a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 in Rockville to give community members a chance to weigh in on public safety concerns.

The forum, which will be held in the County Council office building, will include a presentation on the commission’s current and future work, along with the Montgomery County Police Department’s Strategic Plan for 2026-30. The event will include a listening session so that attendees can share feedback with the commission.

The commission was established in 2019 and includes 13 voting members and two ex officio members. The group advises the County Council on issues relating to policing and public safety.

Liz Bowie and Maya Lora contributed reporting to this article.