Funding for Head Start looks light this year, College of Southern Idaho officials told trustees Monday night.

Local Head Start could lose $519,130 this year because of increased costs and de-creased funding for the program, according to numbers presented by CSI to the board.

Head Start is a federally funded poverty prevention program that started in 1965. It gives low-income kids ages 3 to 5 structured preschool education, along with health and nutrition services, dental care, and home visits.

CSI handles financial affairs for Idaho's South Central Head Start locations. Idaho is one of only a dozen states that do not fund preschool programs.

Federal funding, called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, is streamed through the state to Head Start and may get cut this year by the Legislature. This pros-pect concerned Head Start officials back in December when they said waiting lists could expand by 22 slots if TANF funding gets pulled.

A cut of $197,930 in TANF money is expected by the end of June 30, according to numbers released Monday by CSI.

It's still possible that money could be restored by lawmakers. But "it's not looking good right now," said Mike Mason, CSI treasurer.

At the board's last meeting in December trustees learned that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviewed the local South Central Head Start and found one small problem. Mason's Head Start updates to the CSI board were made orally, but he should have presented them with monthly financial information on paper.

On Monday the board received a printout of Head Start's finances.

The issue didn't hurt Head Start operations, Mason said last month. "Operationally, our Head Start program is outstanding," he wrote the board in December.

Educators generally agree Head Start helps put its graduates on more equal footing as they progress through school, though some studies have been inconclusive.

Andrea Gates can be reached at 735-3380 or Andrea.Gates@lee.net