August 3, 2000

Helen H. Taylor, Associate Commissioner
Head Start Bureau
Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Administration for Children and Families
Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20447

Dear Ms. Taylor:

This responds to your request that this agency revise its interpretation of the term "school" to exclude Head Start Programs. This would allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a rule requiring that Head Start children be transported in vehicles that meet the Federal school bus safety standards other than those requiring traffic control devices. I regret the delay in responding to your request.

You based your request on the Coats Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998. In that Act, Congress amended section 636 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831) to provide that "[i]t is the purpose of this subchapter to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of low-income children through the provision, to low-income families, of health, educational, nutritional, social, and other services that are determined, based on family needs assessments, to be necessary." You believe that by employing the term "school readiness," Congress was distinguishing Head Start programs from school programs.

In considering your request, we reviewed the basis for our existing interpretation of Head Start as a "school." That interpretation was based on the former National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (now codified at 49 U.S.C. 30101 et seq. ("the Vehicle Safety Act")). The Vehicle Safety Act defines "schoolbus" to mean

(49 U.S.C. 30125(a)(1))

In applying the term to Head Start, we equated the provision of educational services with the status of being a school, and concluded that Head Start programs were functioning as preprimary schools. On December 29, 1977, NHTSA issued an opinion that Head Start facilities are functioning as preprimary schools, and that buses transporting children to and from those schools are functioning as school buses, under the Vehicle Safety Act and accordingly are subject to the Federal school bus safety standards. Specifically, the letter stated:

Subsequently, in a May 10, 1982, opinion, we distinguished day care centers from Head Start facilities on the basis that "facilities which are essentially custodial, even though they have some educational components, are not considered to be schools."

In light of the 1998 amendment to section 636 of the Head Start Act, we have concluded that the linkage we have made in the case of Head Start between educational services and schools is no longer valid. We believe that it is clear from the language of that section that Congress has made a distinction between Head Start programs and school programs.

Accordingly, we are revising our interpretation of "school" to exclude Head Start. Consistent with the evident intent of section 636, we conclude that a Head Start agency is not operating a "school" for the purposes of the Vehicle Safety Act. This means that buses sold to transport children to and from a Head Start site will no longer be required under the Vehicle Safety Act to meet the Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to school buses. In revising our interpretation, we act with the knowledge that HHS intends to implement a rule requiring that Head Start children be transported in vehicles meeting the Federal school bus safety standards other than those for traffic control devices. This will serve to ensure the children's safety.

Sincerely,

Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel

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