The head of a state board that will oversee $37 million in public money for expanding Texas' Head Start programs says the group is not required to post the times and locations of the meetings to the general public, as required by the state open meetings law.

The meetings of the State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education and Care will be open to the public, and 41 people attended its first meeting earlier this year in Houston. But John Gasko, chairman of the council, said the group isn't legally required to give written notice of its meetings because the board doesn't fall under the state's sunshine law, he said.

"We spoke with the secretary of state and the governor's office about it," said Gasko, an official at the Children's Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston. "We need to meet but do not necessarily have to meet the requirements of the open meetings act."

Texas' Open Meetings Act says that "a governmental body shall give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting held by the governmental body," except in emergency circumstances. The phrase "governmental body" is defined in the law to include "a board, commission, department, committee or agency within the executive or legislative branch of state government that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members."

The council will meet again on April 7 at the offices of the Texas Education Agency, 1701 N. Congress Ave., Austin, and the time and place of that meeting is described on the Children's Learning Institute's Web site. That will be the council's second meeting -- the first took place on Jan. 13 in Houston, where members discussed how they would proceed, according to the meeting minutes. The panel has publicized the meetings in the early childhood education community, Gasko said, via Internet listserves.

The panel was created as part of the federal Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act of 2007, which a number of Texas Republicans opposed in the House. Both U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn voted "yes" on the Senate bill.

The stated intention of the the program is “to reauthorize the Head Start Act, to improve program quality, to expand access, and for other purposes.” In civilian terms, it means to broaden the reach of Head Start programs, and promote school readiness of low-income children. The program is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Head Start office.

Texas has 86 Head Start programs and 164 Early Head Start programs, serving 67,630 children, according to the Web site of the Texas Head Start Association. Twenty-three percent of all Texas children (ages 17 and under) live below the poverty level, according to the most recent estimates from the federal Census Bureau.

If Texas decides to apply to get in the federal program, the state will put in $26 million and the federal government will put in $11.3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- commonly known as the federal stimulus bill. The deadline for the proposals/applications is Aug. 1.

Late last year, Gov. Rick Perry appointed a number of folks to the council. His office announced another appointment to the council this week. But before it can do anything, the body has to hold at least one public meeting, according to these guidelines:

"Consistent with Section 642B(b)(1)(D)(ii) States are required to hold public hearings and provide an opportunity for public comment before submitting the strategic report with their application."

The council's appointees can't be paid for their service, but "states may bring in consultants or a contractor to do some kind of work," said Richard Gonzales, senior advisor for early childhood development and education at HHS in Washington. The money is only to last for three years -- by then, Gonzales said, hopefully the states will figure out ways to continue funding the programs implemented with the federal funds. States can take the money from other programs aimed at early childhood development, Gonzales said.

“Let’s say the state is already using state and local dollars to retain teachers in childhood development, for example,” he said. “That could be part of the matching money allocation.” As long as it’s state or local money.Texas already has millions of dollars budgeted for early childhood education, Gasko said, and that money will fit the requirement for matching funds. And the federal grant, he said, will provide "critical seed money to start developing innovations to meet the needs we have that are unfulfilled in the state.

"With the new federal money, there will be money for contractors and consultants, some of which will be selected in a bidding process, but others who will be listed ahead of time on the proposal form itself, which, if approved, would allow them to skirt the bidding process.

"You can name partners who are going to collaborate with you," Gasko said. "The federal government will provide us with feedback as to whether that's OK and whether it meets federal requirements."The federal money could also help pay travel costs for the council members, Gasko said.

Texas Watchdog placed several calls over two days to the governor's office seeking an agent from his office to speak about the council."I don't know that anyone in the governor's office is an expert for specific questions on this," a person answering the phone at the governor's office said, adding that there was no one from the governor's office who could speak on the issue.

Among the questions Texas Watchdog sought to have the governor's office answer:

• Why does the governor's office feel that the council is not subject to the notice requirements of the state Open Meetings Act?

• If this is an optional program, is there a plan to fund the continuing obligation when the three-year, $11.3 million grant expires?
  

• Most states already have in place programs to address early childhood education and development. As Gonzales in Washington said, some of that funding can be moved over to this new program to fulfill the matching obligation. Where will that money come from in Texas, and what will be done to cover any deficits in other programs it might leave?
  

• Perry has been an outspoken critic of money coming from the feds, at one point saying he was wary of spending federal cash on short-term programs that might stick the state with lingering obligations. In the case of the Head Start funds, the federal money will run out in three years. How does Texas' involvement in this program jibe with Perry's stance?