By Aaron Parseghian, WBZ-TV

As preschoolers boarded a yellow bus outside PACE Head Start in New Bedford, Massachusetts, staff and families worried it could be one of the last rides home for a while.

PACE is planning on stopping transportation for kids after this weekend, as Head Start programs across the country grapple with the fast-approaching funding cliffs caused by the ongoing government shutdown.

In the meantime, six Head Start agencies across Massachusetts are now trying to make sure they can keep their doors open if the shutdown continues through the weekend. The largely federally funded early education and family-support programs rely heavily on grants normally distributed November 1.

"If the government shutdown extends into this weekend, those six agencies will be operating w

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