North Carolina, like most states, has laws pertaining to passing a stopped school bus. Head Start wants these same laws applied to their vehicles, and operating coordinated vehicles of varying color and design would hamper their effort. Participants wondered how a coordinated system could meet this requirement. An attractive benefit to advocates of coordinated systems is that Head Start trips generally occur in the morning and afternoon. When a Head Start agency operates its own vehicles it has complete control over its vehicles.
Coordination means losing part of that control to which many agencies are deeply opposed.
Some agencies are concerned about having Head Start children ride with the clients of other human services agencies in a coordinated system. Head Start agency officials question whether a coordinated system could handle either of these in a timely manner. Several the North Carolina Head Start officials' concerns were based on federal regulations. Unfortunately, the federal regulation of Head Start transportation is currently unclear. Most Head Start programs in North Carolina, as well as elsewhere in the nation, provide transportation, but there has never been a regulation requiring that programs do so.