Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-05 · by Amanda Geduld The Associated Press
It was sometime around Xavier Rogers’ second birthday that his mom and Early Head Start teachers noticed a shift in his demeanor.
asserted
mom → notice → demeanor
Xavier, usually a happy baby, now mostly wanted to play alone and would sometimes bite and hit other kids in his class.
asserted
Xavier → want → class
Instead of removing Xavier from his class, his Chicago-area preschool gave the family extra support from a social-emotional and mental healthcare team.
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preschool → remove → team
“With these supports in place, I feel like he has grown tremendously,” said Xavier’s mom, Joanna Isitt, a Head Start teacher herself.
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mom → feel → place
Now 4, “he’s become much, much more aware of himself and how he feels and how others may feel.”
uncertain
others → become → himself
He’s less likely to resort to negative behaviors, and he even encourages her to join him in breathing exercises, saying, “OK, Mama, smell the flowers, blow the candles.”
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he → ’ → candles
The protections and support Isitt and her son received are part of longstanding Head Start regulations, but they could soon disappear under the Trump administration’s proposed rule change for the 61-year-old early childhood education program.
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they → receive → program
The proposal would eliminate federal guidelines that keep kids who exhibit behaviors like Xavier’s from being removed from Head Start programs.
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who → eliminate → programs
Instead of receiving the help he needed to self-regulate, the little boy could have been told to leave, and his mother could have been left scrambling for alternative care.
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mother → receive → care
___
AP has partnered with The 74, an education-focused nonprofit news outlet, to cover the impact of the Trump administration’s proposed changes to Head Start.
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AP → partner → Start
The family lives in Illinois, which has its own regulations against imposing exclusionary discipline such as suspensions and expulsions on preschoolers.
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which → live → preschoolers
But some other states, such as South Carolina and Florida, do not.
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states → do → Carolina
The updated Head Start rules would ask providers to make their own discipline policies by following state and local licensing requirements.
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rules → update → requirements
Advocates and experts fear Head Start students and families in these places could experience a more punitive reality if the proposed changes take effect.
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changes → fear → effect
Suspensions and expulsions are associated with negative outcomes, including lower educational achievement, decreased likelihood of graduating high school and depression.
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Suspensions → associate → school
“If the state of Florida doesn’t have standards related to suspension and expulsion, and that’s what the administration wants us to go by …
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us → relate → what
I think as a country we should all be very concerned that we’re taking our most vulnerable children and families and potentially putting them in an environment where they’re going to have no protections,” said Wanda Minick, executive director of the Florida Head Start Association.
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Minick → think → Association
Only 14 states and Washington, D.C., have laws or policies that align with Head Start’s rules around exclusionary discipline, according to a recent analysis by the Children’s Equity Project at Arizona State University.
uncertain
that → have → University
Of those, researchers said, only around half the laws appear to apply to all children under 5, the population served by Head Start.
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laws → say → Start
And in only one, Minnesota, do the regulations explicitly include Head Start programs.
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regulations → include → programs
That means that in 70% of states, Head Start students would be left with fewer guardrails should the rule change pass.
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change → mean → guardrails
Kids can be removed from preschool in these states
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Kids → remove → states
Many of the states with flexible rules or no laws end up removing the most preschoolers from their classrooms, while states with tighter regulations suspend far fewer, according to an analysis of 2023-24 federal data by The 74 and The Associated Press.
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states → end → 74
The data captures suspensions for pre-kindergartners who are enrolled in public school districts.
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who → capture → districts
South Carolina reported suspending 604 public preschoolers a total of 1,181 times that year, while Minnesota reported zero students suspended.
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students → report → times
Florida reported expelling 466 public preschoolers, more than any other state.
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Florida → report → state
Ultimately, the data shows, some Head Start students would remain shielded from expulsion and suspension, but some would not — simply depending on where they live.
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they → show → expulsion
The public may comment on the rule change through Oct. 6.
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public → comment → Oct.
The Trump administration is attempting to roll back these discipline safeguards along with many of the tools that prevent behaviors from escalating in the first place, advocates said.
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advocates → attempt → place
These include lower adult-to-child ratios, a required number of monthly mental health consultations, timely developmental screenings and staff breaks.
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These → include → consultations
In this environment, “if they were to make it permissible to either reject kids or throw them out, I think a lot of teachers would, because they’re just feeling so much strain,” said Joel Ryan, executive director of the Washington State Association of Head Start.
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Ryan → make → Start
“They don’t want to — and I don’t think that would be the majority — but I think it could lead to some of those kids being excluded.”
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some → want → kids
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the proposed rule would give Head Start programs more flexibility and wouldn’t force them to change their current disciplinary practices if they work well.
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they → say → practices
For many families, Head Start is their last remaining preschool option, said Natalie Renew, executive director of Home Grown, an initiative focused on home-based childcare.
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Renew → remain → childcare
It is one of the few places where kids displaying challenging behaviors are largely guaranteed support, rather than exclusion.
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kids → display → support
If the administration’s proposal takes effect, “a lot of the children who can’t be served elsewhere will have nowhere,” she said.
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she → take → children
Suspension is currently a last resort for Head Start students
Expulsion is currently banned within Head Start, which serves nearly 700,000 predominantly low-income kids.
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which → ban → kids
Temporary suspensions can only be used in extreme circumstances and as a last resort, after programs have attempted a series of other interventions, including collaborating with parents, meeting with a mental health consultant and turning to resources such as behavior coaches or psychologists.
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programs → use → coaches
In rare cases where kids are suspended, programs must set up home visits and explore a referral for special education services.
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programs → suspend → services
Preschoolers who are forced out “don’t just magically vanish or magically get cured,” said Walter Gilliam, executive director of the Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska.
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Gilliam → force → Nebraska
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
