Program Performance Summary Report

To: Authorizing Official/Board Chairperson From: Responsible HHS Official

Mrs. Michelle McKissack
Shelby County Board of Education
3030 Jackson Ave
Memphis, TN 38112 - 2020 Date: 04/20/2022

Dr. Bernadine Futrell

Director, Office of Head Start

From 07/19/2021 to 01/25/2022, the Administration for Children and Families conducted a monitoring review of the Shelby County
Board of Education Head Start program. This report contains information about the grantee's performance and compliance with the
requirements of the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) or Public Law 110-134, Improving Head Start for School
Readiness Act of 2007.

The Office of Head Start would like to thank your governing body, policy council, parents, and staff for their engagement in the
review process. Based on the information gathered during our review, the determination has been made that Shelby County Board of
Education Head Start program is a grantee with at least one area of deficiency in its Head Start program.

If you anticipate that you will not be able to correct all deficiencies within the timeframe for correction specified in this report, you
must submit a letter to your ACF Regional Office requesting an extension, with a justification as to why an extension is necessary.
The letter requesting an extension must be submitted prior to the expiration of the original corrective action time period.

In order to allow for sufficient time to consider extension requests, we ask that you submit your request within 10 days following
receipt of this report. Extension requests shall not be considered approved unless you receive such approval in writing before the
deadline for correction.

The report provides you with detailed information on each area where program performance did not meet applicable Head Start
Program Performance Standards, laws, regulations, and policy requirements.

Please contact your ACF Regional Office with any questions or concerns you may have about this report.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE REPORT

Copies of this report will be distributed to the following recipients:

Mr. Desmond Clayton, Acting Regional Program Manager
Mrs. Divalyn Gordon, Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director
Dr. Detris Crane, Head Start Director
 Shelby County Board of Education - 04CH011116/2021

Glossary of Terms

Opportunity for An OCI is identified when the grantee is determined compliant in an area; however, through
Continuous Improvement intentional, continuous improvement strategies, the agency has the opportunity to enhance
(OCI) overall program quality.

An area for which the agency needs to improve performance. These issues should be discussed
Area of Concern (AOC)
with the grantee's Regional Office of Head Start for possible technical assistance.

An area for which the agency is out of compliance with Federal requirements (including but not
limited to the Head Start Act or one or more of the regulations) in one or more areas of
Area of Noncompliance
performance. This status requires a written timeline of correction and possible technical
(ANC)
assistance or guidance from the grantee's program specialist. If not corrected within the specified
timeline, this status becomes a deficiency.

As defined in the Head Start Act, the term "deficiency" means:

(A) a systemic or substantial material failure of an agency in an area of performance that the
Secretary determines involves:
(i) a threat to the health, safety, or civil rights of children or staff;
(ii) a denial to parents of the exercise of their full roles and responsibilities related to
program operations;
(iii) a failure to comply with standards related to early childhood development and health
services, family and community partnerships, or program design and management;
(iv) the misuse of funds received under this subchapter;
Deficiency (v) loss of legal status (as determined by the Secretary) or financial viability, loss of
permits, debarment from receiving Federal grants or contracts, or the improper use of
Federal funds; or
(vi) failure to meet any other Federal or State requirement that the agency has shown an
unwillingness or inability to correct, after notice from the Secretary, within the period
specified;
(B) systemic or material failure of the governing body of an agency to fully exercise its legal and
fiduciary responsibilities; or
(C) an unresolved area of noncompliance.

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Performance Summary

Timeframe for
Service Area Grant Number(s) Compliance Level Applicable Standards
Correction

Safety Practices 04CH011116 Deficiency 1302.90(c) 30 days

Safety Practices 04CH011116 Deficiency 1302.47(a) 30 days

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Monitoring and Implementing Quality Health Services

Safety Practices
The grantee does not implement a process for monitoring and maintaining healthy and safe environments.

DEF 1302.90(c) Timeframe for Correction: 30 days

1302.90 Personnel policies. (c) Standards of conduct. (1) A program must ensure all staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers
abide by the program’s standards of conduct that: (i) Ensure staff, consultants, contractors, and volunteers implement positive
strategies to support children’s well-being and prevent and address challenging behavior; (ii) Ensure staff, consultants, contractors,
and volunteers do not maltreat or endanger the health or safety of children, including, at a minimum, that staff must not: (A) Use
corporal punishment; (B) Use isolation to discipline a child; (C) Bind or tie a child to restrict movement or tape a child’s mouth; (D)
Use or withhold food as a punishment or reward; (E) Use toilet learning/training methods that punish, demean, or humiliate a child;
(F) Use any form of emotional abuse, including public or private humiliation, rejecting, terrorizing, extended ignoring, or corrupting
a child; (G) Physically abuse a child; (H) Use any form of verbal abuse, including profane, sarcastic language, threats, or derogatory
remarks about the child or child’s family; or, (I) Use physical activity or outdoor time as a punishment or reward; (iii) Ensure staff,
consultants, contractors, and volunteers respect and promote the unique identity of each child and family and do not stereotype on
any basis, including gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or family composition; (iv) Require staff,
consultants, contractors, and volunteers to comply with program confidentiality policies concerning personally identifiable
information about children, families, and other staff members in accordance with subpart C of part 1303 of this chapter and
applicable federal, state, local, and tribal laws; and, (v) Ensure no child is left alone or unsupervised by staff, consultants, contractors,
or volunteers while under their care. (2) Personnel policies and procedures must include appropriate penalties for staff, consultants,
and volunteers who violate the standards of conduct.

The recipient did not ensure all staff did not maltreat or endanger the health and safety of program participants, including, at a
minimum, that staff did not use corporal punishment or physical abuse of a child. From March 2021 through January 2022, staff
members were involved in seven child maltreatment incidents that were reported to the Regional Office.

On March 3, 2021, a parent reported to a family service worker that their 4-year-old child was hit on the arm by a teacher at the
Porter Leath Hanley Head Start.

On April 15, 2021, a parent informed staff that a teacher hit their 3-year-old child on the leg and buttocks at the Porter Leath Hanley
Head Start.

On May 13, 2021, a 5-year-old child informed their mother that they were hit on the head with a ruler/yardstick by their teacher when
they could not write the letter W at Levi Elementary School Head Start. The program stated that teachers were teaching a unit on
measurements at the time. Additionally, the principal of Levi Elementary stated the teacher failed to timely report the incident per the
school districts policy.

On September 14, 2021, an incident occurred at Willow Oaks Elementary School Head Start. A teacher admitted she had grabbed a
4-year-old child by the arm when the child did not follow her verbal redirection. A witness observed the teacher grab the child by the
wrist, and the child appeared to be walking on his toes at a rapid pace while trying to keep up with his teacher. The Tennessee State
Board of Education found the teacher had inappropriate physical contact with a child.

On October 21, 2021, an incident occurred at the Hanley Head Start. Two witnesses observed a teacher exhibiting concerning
behavior, including speaking with a slurred speech, smelling of alcohol, and appearing unwell. One witness described the teacher as
overly loving to children with hugs. A review of the program's incident report stated that the teacher was removed from the
classroom, and medical assistance was called. The responding emergency medical technicians noted the teacher was intoxicated.

Also, on October 21, 2021, a parent complaint was submitted at the Douglass Head Start Center. A 4-year-old child told her
grandmother that during the week of October 4-8, 2021, a teacher grabbed her by the arm and placed a bug on her.

On January 21, 2022, an incident occurred at the Covington Pike Head Start Center. A teaching assistant reported a teacher
responded to a 4-year-old child having a meltdown on the floor by kicking the child in the chest. The teaching assistant also reported
that she witnessed this same teacher shaking her fist in an intimidating manner to children who did not know the letters L, M, and N
in January 2022. Additionally, on November 16, 2021, the same teacher was issued an oral reprimand by the program after a parent
reported concerning aggressive interactions with their child.

The recipient did not ensure all staff did not maltreat or endanger the health and safety of program participants, including, at a
minimum, that staff did not use corporal punishment or physical abuse of a child; therefore, it was not in compliance with the
regulation.

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DEF 1302.47(a) Timeframe for Correction: 30 days

1302.47 Safety practices.(a) A program must establish, train staff on, implement, and enforce a system of health and safety practices
that ensure children are kept safe at all times. A program should consult Caring for our Children Basics, available at
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ecd/caring_for_our_children_basics.pdf, for additional information to develop and
implement adequate safety policies and practices described in this part.

The recipient did not ensure it established, trained staff on, implemented, and enforced a system of health and safety practices that
ensured children were kept safe at all times.

Over the period March 2021 through January 2022, staff were reported to have maltreated children while under their care.
Specifically, some staff was involved in more than one incident yet were allowed to remain in their capacity as caregivers. One
teacher assistant was reported to have been involved in incidents in November 2021 and again in January 2022.

From March 2021 through January 2022, seven incidents of child maltreatment were reported to the Regional Office. As more fully
described under 1302.90(c) of this report, several children were alleged to have been maltreated. Maltreatment allegations include
staff members hitting children on the arm, leg, head, buttocks, and wrist. Additionally, staff was found to have verbally abused
children and used aggressive and inappropriate interactions.

The pattern of maltreatment incidents indicates the program lacked a system to ensure staff were knowledgeable of and demonstrated
appropriate teacher-child interactions.

The recipient did not ensure it established, trained staff on, implemented, and enforced a system of health and safety practices that
ensured children were kept safe at all times; therefore, it was not in compliance with the regulation.

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