School board members will get their first look Monday at a proposed partnership with Head Start to serve 50 children in Cherokee County.

Head Start is a national program which promotes school readiness by providing services to preschool children. Piedmont Community Actions in Spartanburg received a $536,000 grant last month to start a new Head Start program in Cherokee County.

The school board’s Special Needs Committee meets at 11 a.m. in the district office to receive an update on a proposed partnership between Head Start and the school district. The grant will allow the district to provide classes for 32 infants and toddlers as well as 20 children in a 4-year-old kindergarten program.

The district has explored the partnership with Head Start in recent months so it could serve additional children in early education programs.

The school district’s participation in the grant is dependent on the school board approving the Head Start partnership agreement. The Special Needs Committee will make a recommendation to the full school board on whether to proceed with the new Head Start program.

“We want to make good informed decisions,” said Lindley Auton, who chairs the board’s Special Needs Committee. “We want full disclosure on what the district’s obligations are going to be with the Head Start program and what is required of the school district and its employees.”