Kindergarten students play on a rug in their classroom in Oklahoma City on Aug. 13. Certain Head Start centers serving Oklahoma children up to age 5 face a loss of federal funding if the government shutdown continues to Nov. 1. (Photo by Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A “catastrophic” loss of funding is little over a week away for Head Start centers serving 2,500 children across Oklahoma.
If the nationwide government shutdown continues, four Head Start programs in Oklahoma will run out of federal funding on Nov. 1, threatening the closure of dozens of child care centers primarily serving low-income families in rural areas. These four Head Start programs, including centers operated by the Cherokee Nation and Choctaw Nation, reach the end of their fiscal year on Oct. 31…