CHELSEA

The director of Midcoast Maine Community Action is enthusiastic about integrating the Head Start program for 4-year-olds at Wiscasset Primary School.

After considerable discussion, the Regional School Unit 12 Board of Directors agreed Thursday night to dedicate $10,000 to the program, which will serve about 32 students.

Midcoast Maine Community Action Director Sue Kingsland said Friday the $10,000 will allow Head Start to train teachers in Wiscasset kindergarten classes.

“It’s exciting,” Kingsland said from her Bath office. “It’s wonderful to sit around the table with the RSU 12 folks and say, ‘Let’s not duplicate efforts.’ What we’re trying to do is to create a greater continuity of what kids have in Head Start and what they have in kindergarten.”

Midcoast Maine Community Action has operated the class for several years, after an original cooperative program had operated for just one year.

Lisa Smead, assistant director of special education for RSU 12, said the program would be modeled after the Windsor-Chelsea partnership with Head Start, and that there is plenty of room for it at Wiscasset Primary School. Parents provide transportation, she said.

The board discussed the issue at length after Smead’s presentation Thursday at Chelsea Elementary School, and considered amendments prior to settling on $10,000.

As Kingsland explained it, Head Start and Wiscasset Primary School partnered for one year, but budgetary cuts and transportation issues halted the arrangement.

For the past several years, she said, Head Start has been running the pre-K program under its auspices.

“It’s income-eligible, but that one year we kept a few spots open for others,” Kingsland said. “We’ve been providing a quality program there for years. We’ll probably begin as a Head Start program and go from there.”