Spending for new school buses for several Head Start programs in Massachusetts will be deferred this year due to anticipated funding cuts stemming from the federal sequester, The Patriot Ledger reports.

Officials at Quincy Community Action Programs and the South Shore Community Action Council, which both operate Head Start programs in the state, said they are preparing for the reductions, but they don’t yet know the extent to which their budgets will be impacted. According to the newspaper, the sequester cut the budget for Head Start by 5%.  

“To have a cut in a program like Head Start is completely unprecedented,” Ann Strollo, executive director of Quincy Community Action Programs, told The Patriot Ledger. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a cut. This will hurt communities; there’s no doubt about it. It was just an outrageous way to deal with our budget deficit.”

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