Office of the Superintendent of Schools
Office of Academics
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Authority To Renew Partnerships With AVANCE-Houston, Inc.; Gulf Coast Community Services Association; Harris County Department Of Education; And BakerRipley, For Head Start Prekindergarten Collaborative Programs
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The purpose of this agenda item is to seek approval from the Houston Independent School District (HISD) School Board to negotiate, execute, and amend agreement renewals with specific external agencies to create effective prekindergarten (pre-K) collaboratives. HISD collaborates with four federally funded Head Start agencies that serve regional sectors of Harris County within HISD boundaries. Collectively, all four agencies will partner with 23 HISD schools. Within the schools, the HISD and Head Start teachers collaborate and deliver instruction to dually enrolled students in 96 pre-K classrooms.
During the 2025-2026 school year, the HISD/AVANCE-Houston, Inc., Head Start pre-K collaborative will continue at Janowski Elementary School (ES). The HISD/Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Head Start pre-K collaborative will continue at Dogan ES and Fonwood Early Childhood Center (ECC). The HISD/Gulf Coast Community Services Association (GCCSA) Head Start pre-K collaborative will continue at Bastian ES, Codwell ES, DeAnda ES, Kelso ES, Lockhart ES, Patterson ES, Reynolds ES, Rucker ES, Thompson ES, and Woodson PK-5 Leadership Academy. The HISD/BakerRipley Head Start pre-K collaborative will continue at Anderson ES, Benavidez ES, Bonham ES, Braeburn ES, Halpin ECC, King ECC, Mistral ECC, Neff ECC, Rodriguez ES, and Shearn ES.
The Head Start agencies will offer comprehensive services to eligible children at the designated schools. These services include medical, dental, nutritional, and psychological services for students and classes for parents. Preschoolers with disabilities will be enrolled according to HISD guidelines for special education and prekindergarten. The class sizes, program options, and hours of operation at each site will depend upon the mutually agreed-upon needs of the community, each individual campus, and the Head Start program. This determination will be made after the student-certification process is completed at each site. As space becomes available in schools or in standalone Head Start sites, additional classrooms, Head Start staff members, and HISD teachers may be added as agreed upon by all parties involved.
One HISD teacher and at least one Head Start staff member will serve each HISD/Head Start collaborative class. The HISD teachers at non-New Education System (NES) campuses will work 7.75 hours each day, with a 30-minute duty-free lunch and a 45-minute planning period. The HISD teachers at NES campuses will work 8 hours each day, with a 30- minute duty-free lunch, and a 60-minute planning period. The HISD teachers will be funded through state revenues generated by the average daily attendance of eligible students.
The Head Start agencies will furnish the classrooms in the collaboratives with appropriate furniture, materials, supplies, and playground equipment, if needed. The Head Start agencies provide teachers/teacher aides, materials, copying services, and supplies as well as cover indirect costs with in-kind funds.
These collaboratives, while adhering to Head Start performance standards, will provide an appropriate program supported by and correlated to the HISD pre-K district curriculum, standards in Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs, Fourth Edition (National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2022), and the Texas Education Agency’s pre-K guidelines.
Preliminary Findings
In the 2023-2024 school year, 11,997 students were identified as HISD pre-K students across 162 schools, with 1,722 of them participating in HISD Head Start programs at 24 schools. In the 2024-2025 school year, the number of students identified as participants in HISD pre-K programs decreased by 11 students to 11,986 students, at 167 schools. Students identified as HISD Head Start participants decreased by 516 students from 1,722 to 1,206 students attending programs at 19 schools.
In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, most HISD pre-K students were Latino/a or African American/Black students. Each year, there was a higher percentage of HISD pre-K Latino/a students, overall, (66 percent and 64 percent, respectively) than those who attended HISD Head Start programs (62 percent each year). In contrast, in both years, a higher percentage of African American/Black students attended HISD Head Start programs (33 percent each year) than the percentages of African American/Black students in HISD pre-K overall (25 percent and 26 percent, respectively).
In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, a larger proportion of Head Start pre-K students were identified as economically disadvantaged (99 percent each year) than the proportion of HISD pre-K students, overall (93 percent and 92 percent, respectively).
In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, a larger proportion of Head Start pre-K students were identified as emergent bilingual/English learners (50 percent and 53 percent, respectively) than the proportion of HISD pre-K students, overall (49 percent and 52 percent, respectively).
In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, a larger proportion of HISD pre-K students, overall, were identified as homeless (9 percent and 8 percent, respectively) than the proportion of Head Start pre-K (7 percent and 6 percent, respectively).
In 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, the proportions of students with disabilities receiving special services were larger among HISD pre-K students, overall (6 percent and 13 percent, respectively), than their proportion among Head Start pre-K students (4 percent and 8 percent, respectively). In contrast, each year, the proportions of at-risk students were larger among Head Start pre-K students, overall (98 percent and 81 percent, respectively), than their proportion among HISD pre-K students, overall (95 percent and 79 percent, respectively).
A list of the Head Start collaboratives is attached.
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COST/FUNDING SOURCE(S): |
The total cost of this program is not expected to exceed $22,597,483.84, of which HISD will pay $6,573,000 for salaries for HISD teachers. |
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Fund Source |
Fund |
Cost Center |
Functional Area |
General Ledger |
Internal Order/ Work Breakdown Structure |
Amount |
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General Fund |
1991010001 |
1012XXX000 |
PS1110000000000 |
6119000000 |
N/A |
$6,573,000 |
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In-kind contributions |
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|
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$16,024,483.84 |
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STAFFING IMPLICATIONS: |
None |
THIS ITEM DOES NOT ESTABLISH, MODIFY, OR DELETE BOARD POLICY.
recommendation
RECOMMENDED: That the School Board authorizes the superintendent of schools or a designee to negotiate, execute, and amend agreement renewals for HISD/Head Start Prekindergarten Collaborative Programs with AVANCE-Houston, Inc.; GCCSA; HCDE; and BakerRipley, effective August 15, 2025.