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On June 22, 2023, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that staff member Rachel Schwer hit Child A (18-months-old) on the hand, aggressively takes toys away from children, screams at the children, and pushed Child B's (18-months-old) head. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(E), which states: "Caregivers shall have knowledge of the needs of children and shall be sensitive to the capabilities, interests, and problems of children in care."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)6., which states: "Firm, positive statements or redirection of behavior shall be used with infants and toddlers."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)7., which states: "Physical punishment including, but not limited to, spanking, slapping, shaking, biting, or pulling hair shall be prohibited."
On June 27, 2023, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe conducted an unannounced inspection to The Goddard School and interviewed staff member Julie Bunton, Director Lauren Parle, staff member Rachel Schwer, and Parent B (parent of Child B and also a teacher at the facility). Ms. Schwer and Parent B are co-teachers together in the butterfly classroom. Both Parent B and Ms. Schwer stated that Ms. Schwer gets frustrated with the children in the classroom. When Ms. Schwer is frustrated with the children, she will yell directly at the children, she will take toys out of the children's hands too harshly and too quickly, and she will speak to the children with an inappropriate tone. In October of 2022, Ms. Schwer was sitting on the floor with a tablet. Ms. Schwer pushed Child B's head away after Child B tried to touch the tablet that Ms. Schwer was using. This happened approximately three times consecutively. Ms. Schwer is aware that this did not feel good to Child B but denied attempting to hurt Child B. Previous staff member Monica Kellerman was present for this incident. All staff members denied observing Ms. Schwer using physical discipline with Child A at the facility. According to Ms. Schwer, Ms. Parle and Ms. Bunton have never spoke to her regarding the reported concerns. Other staff members have previously expressed concerns regarding Ms. Schwer to Ms. Bunton and Ms. Parle. On June 15, 2023, previous staff member Brittany Early expressed concerns that were similar to the reported concerns.
On June 29, 2023, CI Fyfe interviewed previous staff member Monica Kellerman. When Ms. Kellerman was employed at the facility, she worked together with Ms. Schwer approximately one day out of the week each week. Ms. Kellerman was present in the classroom when Ms. Schwer pushed Child B's head. Ms. Kellerman observed Child B trying to climb on Ms. Schwer as she was on the ground. Ms. Kellerman believes that Child B was seeking attention from Ms. Schwer. Ms. Schwer responded to Child B by pushing their head away multiple times. Child B was not attempting to play with the tablet in Ms. Schwer's hands. Ms. Kellerman expressed concerns regarding this incident to Ms. Parle and Parent B separately. Ms. Parle did not address the situation appropriately and did not take appropriate actions. Parent B had to approach Ms. Parle to discuss the incident. Other staff members at the facility have previously expressed concerns to facility management with little to no response. When Ms. Kellerman worked with Ms. Schwer, she observed Ms. Schwer use a tone with the children that was too stern and observed Ms. Schwer talk to the children like they are dumb. Ms. Kellerman was not familiar with any incidents involving Child A and denied having observed Ms. Schwer use physical discipline with children other than Child B.
On June 29, 2023, CI Fyfe interviewed Parent A (parent of Child A). Parent A was unaware of the reported concerns and denied observing any signs in Child A that would suggest that the reported concerns were occurring. Parent A expressed additional concerns to CI Fyfe regarding the facility, however the concerns did not meet any criteria for rule violations.
On June 29, 2023, and June 30, 2023, CI Fyfe attempted to interview previous staff member Brittany Early but was unsuccessful in both attempts.
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