BY TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLKNEWS-HERALD
tracy.agnew@suffolknewsherald.com

SUFFOLK—The Franklin and Courtland Head Start centers will reopen Monday after being closed for a month.

A recorded message by the Community Development Institute, the new operator of the Hampton Roads centers, said the Franklin and Courtland centers are among a slate of Head Start programs that will be back in business.

The centers were shut down at the end of February after the Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project, which formerly operated the programs, could not meet its March payroll. The Board of Visitors voted to relinquish the program and allow it to be taken over by another agency.

The Community Development Institute Head Start is operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Children and Families.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness by providing grants to local public and private agencies to provide services to economically disadvantaged children and families. The programs focus on helping preschoolers develop early math and reading skills.

Employees have been notifying parents directly of Monday’s planned opening, said Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the Administration for Children and Families. CDI will be providing transportation, he added.

According to the Community Development Institute’s website, the Federal Office of Head Start appoints it as interim manager of Head Start and Early Head Start programs when the current organization operating it is no longer able to. It has provided interim services to more than 100 programs since 2000.