By JONEL ALECCIA

CENTRAL POINT -- More than 300 additional 3- and 4-year-olds and their families will get help from Southern Oregon Head Start next year, thanks to a nearly $2 million state grant to expand services.

The funds will allow Head Start to add nearly 100 preschoolers to the program in Medford, and it will start services in Phoenix, Shady Cove and Williams, said Alan Berlin, the agency's executive director.

Overall, 307 kids from Ashland to Grants Pass will be added to local rosters, boosting the total to nearly 740 children by February 1999.

"Children and families that have not gotten Head Start before will now get Head Start," Berlin said Tuesday. "I think it's wonderful."

But Berlin was quick to note that local need will still far outstrip availability for the program that prepares poor and disabled children for school.

Only 20 percent of Southern Oregon children eligible for Head Start were enrolled in the program previously; now that figure will be closer to 34 percent, Berlin said.

That's much closer to the state average of 37 percent, which was a goal of the grant aimed at boosting service levels for the 21 Oregon Head Start programs.

The state Legislature has set a goal of providing Head Start services to at least 50 percent of children eligible for the program.

Awarded by the state Department of Education, the grant will pay for new buildings, supplies and about 90 new staff members.

It expands the local Head Start program by 58 percent, Berlin said, boosting the annual budget to $6.3 million and making it one of the region's largest social service agencies.

That's all good news for the Phoenix-Talent School District, where Head Start students have been bused to Medford or Ashland programs. Starting in February 1999, 34 children will be served at a Head Start site at one of the local elementary schools.

"We're thrilled about it," said Dave Willard, superintendent of the Phoenix-Talent district. "Several years ago, they looked at expanding services in our area, but there was no money. Now children will be able to stay in the community."

There's no question that low-income kids benefit from Head Start preparation, Willard said.

"There's still a lot more who could use it," he said. "Any kind of a preschool experience gives kids a real leg up."

In addition to the Phoenix-Talent program, the grant will help start services to 17 children in Shady Cove and 10 children in Williams. It will expand services to 94 children in Medford, 78 children in Grants Pass, 27 in the Illinois Valley, 17 in White City, and 10 each in Ashland, Rogue River and Wolf Creek.

Families eligible for Head Start must meet 100 percent of federal poverty guidelines. For a family of four, that's an income of $16,450 annually. But Berlin says most families enrolled earn far less than that.