Watch CBS News

Aliquippa Parents Angered By Closure Of Head Start Building

ALIQUIPPA (KDKA) -- Just a couple of weeks before school starts and some parents in Aliquippa are just now finding out their local head start building is closing.

"We volunteer here, we do everything that's needed here and you're going to take them away and put them somewhere and then tell us that we can't participate with our own children? No. You have no right to do those things," a protestor said.

That's how Head Start parents feel about the closure of the building and the transport of kids to Raccoon Township. They would be bussed there but parents say their town doesn't have the resources others do.

"And if the children get sick a lot of the parents don't have transportation so if the children get sick how are they going to get from Raccoon back to Aliquippa?" Ursula Riggins, a grandparent, said.

And the owner of the building took KDKA-TV inside to refute claims the building is unsafe.

Tony Alam says he's never been notified of plumbing, electrical, rug or alleged mold concerns but says he stands ready to fix them and all are fixable.

"And I told them that if that's a problem I'll correct it at my expense," he said. "I didn't ask them for one dime. They never called me about one concern. It's amazing."

There was no word Monday night from Health and Human Services but a spokesman has already issued a statement saying they are conducting an inspection of the building.

The parents in Aliquippa suspect that the kids from Aliquippa and Rochester who will be bussed to Raccoon Township are just part of a numbers game.

RELATED LINKS
More Local News
More Beaver County News

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.