A tribal Head Start site for early childhood education in Agency Village on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeastern South Dakota. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
Funding for a Head Start program in South Dakota is delayed because of the federal government shutdown, forcing the program to obtain its own temporary funding and consider a potential closure next month.
Aberdeen-based Northeast South Dakota Head Start expected to receive just over $3 million on Nov. 1 for its fiscal year 2026. The program is funded almost entirely by the federal government, serving 265 children and employing 70 people in eight towns across 13 counties. Children from low-income families receive free early learning, health and family well-being services.
The program remains open because of a line of credit through Dacotah Bank, said Juli Schultz, executive director of Northeast South Dakota Head Start. The credit will cover the cost of food and staff salaries for November.
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If the shutdown continues into December, Schultz said the program will temporarily close.
“The shutdown needs to stop. People here are not puppets,” Schultz said. “What’s happening is they’re playing with our lives, and they just need to move forward.”
Head Start programs are funded annually, though at different times of the year. If the shutdown lasts until December or later, more programs would see their funding run out.
Eight of South Dakota’s 16 Head Start programs are tribally operated. None of the other non-tribal Head Start programs has been affected yet, said Schultz, who is president of the South Dakota Head Start Association board. South Dakota Searchlight reached out to all tribal organizations, with three responding that their grants have not yet been impacted.
Nationally, about 140 Head Start programs have been affected since the beginning of the shutdown last month; 21 programs in 18 states and Puerto Rico have closed temporarily, according to the National Head Start Association. Other programs have not been affected yet, or have stayed open thanks to a line of credit or because they’ve been able to secure funding through philanthropic organizations.
The shutdown needs to stop. People here are not puppets. What’s happening is they’re playing with our lives, and they just need to move forward.
– Juli Schultz, Northeast South Dakota Head Start
Launched six decades ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, Head Start programs provide a range of services beyond early education, such as medical and dental screenings, school meals and family support to children from low-income households who can’t afford other child care options. Northeast South Dakota Head Start provides preschool classes, along with breakfast, lunch and a snack.
Schultz said the federal government had never previously failed to fund her program by the beginning of the Nov. 1 grant cycle.
Schultz worries about the effects on children and families if she has to temporarily close the program next month. In addition to providing many children “one main nutritious meal” for most of the week, Head Start is a safe space for children and provides families with child care and help accessing resources within the state and community.
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