Washtenaw County is looking to transfer its construction debt for its Ypsilanti Head Start building at 1661 Leforge Road to the Washtenaw Intermediate School District in exchange for the WISD taking ownership of the facility.

The offer comes as the Head Start program — a federally-funded initiative that promotes school readiness of low-income children from birth to age 5 — is switching from the administrative control of the county to the WISD. Officials expect the change will not disrupt services.

Washtenaw County announced it would no longer oversee the program in late 2011 and removed it from its administrative budget. Because there was no immediate agency that could step in to take the reins of the program, the county agreed to keep Head Start under its administrative wing until the federal government could select a new organization.

Long the favorite of some local officials, the WISD was selected to be the administrator of the grant-funded program late this spring.

“We’re doing everything we can to facilitate that where it’s necessary,” said Curtis Hedger, the county’s corporation counsel.

The county has been in talks recently with the district to hammer out the details of transferring the county’s $2.3 million Head Start building at 1661 Leforge Road that the county is still paying off.

The building’s 2002 construction was funded by a bond issue, which the county is halfway through paying off and owes about $1.7 million in the next 10 years.

The county is offering the building to WISD in exchange for WISD assuming the final nine payments on the bond debt, beginning in 2014. As a sign of good faith, the county is offering to fund the 2013 bond debt payment though WISD will be running the Head Start program.

“If (WISD) makes the nine future debt payments, then (the county) would deed them the property in 2022,” Hedger said, noting that there’s a provision in the agreement now that would allow the WISD to buy the property if it so chooses.

In Washtenaw County, the Head Start program served 561 children and families in the 2011-12 school year — 262 of which were children enrolled in Ypsilanti Head Start.

About 10 percent of the children and families enrolled in the program are homeless, according to the Head Start program’s 2012 report.

Administrative expenses for Head Start were $343,193 in the 2011-12 school year, in addition to the $2.7 million in instructional expenses needed to run the program.

Following the unanimous approval of the Board of Commissioners Wednesday, the lease/purchase agreement will be presented to the district, Hedger said.

“The county has been very generous in offering to waive the debt payments for WISD’s first year of use of the program and requesting the district to assume the debt payments in 2014,” said Alan Oman, executive director of Early Childhood Programs for the WISD, in a statement. “The proposal is a potential win-win for the county and WISD. It can ensure that a facility built for the specific purpose of servicing Head Start-eligible children continues to serve in that role for the community.”

The wording on the agreement approved by the commissioners was drafted by Hedger after engaging in several conversations with WISD staff, Hedger said.

WISD staff has been able to review a first draft of the lease agreement, Oman said.

There may be some contention regarding the 10-year time frame in the lease/purchase agreement, as the federal grant that funds the Head Start program comes with a five-year time frame.

“…We anticipate requiring some legal guidance to address the fact that the agreement extends beyond the initial five-year period of WISD’s Head Start grant,” Oman said in a statement. “While we anticipate applying for renewal of the grant in five years, we will need some language in the agreement to address the contingency of federal funds no longer being available.”

Oman said the transition of the program to WISD’s administrative control will not disrupt the ability of the program to open its doors to students this fall.

Head Start sites in Ann Arbor, Whitmore Lake and Manchester are transitioning in their relationships with their local school districts, Oman said.

At Ypsilanti Community Schools, the Head Start program will begin classroom services Sept. 23, Oman said.

Cassandra Sheriff had previously been the site director for the Head Start program in Washtenaw County. In the new arrangement, Sheriff will serve as the Head Start coordinator for the Ypsilanti program sites, Oman said.

The WISD is in the midst of hiring Erika Cook to be the preschool supervisor for the program, Oman said. Cook comes from a position with Monroe County’s Head Start program.

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.