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On April 28, 2023, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that: On April 28, 2023, at approximately 11:16 am, Child A, two years old, was left on the infant toddler playground by Sierra Williams and Taylor Dunbar, teachers, when transitioning in from the playground. The director, Megan Geiger, found Child A approximately 1 minute after the class went inside. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Michelle Honea has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1: which states, "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent adult supervision."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)3: which states, "Caregivers shall provide frequent, direct contact so children are not left unobserved on the premises."
On May 2, 2023, CI Honea conducted an unannounced inspection to the facility and interviewed director Megan Geiger. Megan stated that on April 28, 2023, she was going outside to take to some teachers at approximately 11:17 am when she noticed an arm sticking out behind a column on the playground and realized it was a child. She went outside and found Child A hiding. Child A's class had already gone inside. She brought Child A back into his classroom and his teachers Sierra Williams and Taylor Dunbar and that had not completed a head count when back inside and did not know Child A was missing. She reviewed the video footage, notified Parent A immediately, temporarily suspended both teachers, and incorporated name to face recognition.
On May 2, 2023, CI Honea reviewed the video of the playground which shows Child A hiding behind a column out of sight of teachers Taylor Dunbar and Sierra Williams. The video also shows the teachers did not complete a sweep of the playground to verify all children were accounted for. Child A was outside alone from approximately 11:16:34 am when the class went inside to approximately 11:17:47 am when Child A was found by director Megan Geiger.
CI Honea conducted a phone interview with teacher Taylor Dunbar. Taylor stated that on April 28, 2023, she was trying to corral the children to go back inside the classroom because they kept running out of line. She got them all back in line and did a head count and counted eight children. She believes she counted Child A and does not know when he slipped away. She did not conduct a sweep of the playground and is not sure a sweep of the playground is required but does understand the importance of double checking for all children. A few minutes after being back inside, the director came and brought them Child A and said he was found on the side playground behind a brick pillar. She should have counted the children once back inside but didn't.
On May 04, 2023, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent A. Parent A stated that she was notified by the director immediately after Child A was left out on the playground on April 28, 2023. Child A does this all the time at home so she was not to concerned with the incident. She feels more training for the teachers would be appropriate. She does not have concerns with this facility and will continue to take her children there.
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