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On September 20, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a complaint alleging Hailey was too rough with the kids in the 1-year-old classroom. Hailey ran after Child A and grabbed his arm really quick. When Child A was on the mat, he was rolling off and she moved his leg with her foot. Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an investigation of the allegations and found them to be substantiated based on the following information:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)7. - Physical punishment including, but not limited to, spanking, slapping, shaking, biting, or pulling hair shall be prohibited.
On September 24, 2024, CI Radney received and reviewed video footage. The video is two minutes and 56 seconds long. Child A is wearing a white shirt and khaki pants. Shanelle Clifford is wearing a light blue shirt and black pants. Hailey Gee is wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants. Caregivers appear to be directing all children to the mat. At :50, Child A runs off the mat and around the table. Hailey runs after Child A. At :55, Hailey grabs Child A's left arm close to his shoulder and bends over and appears to say something to Child A. At 1:00, Hailey lets go and Child A runs toward the mat. At 1:13, Hailey grabs Child A's left arm close to his wrist and pulls him around the front of her body toward the mat and twists his body to force him into a seated position on the mat. At 1:14, Child A is seated on the mat kicking his feet, and Hailey continues to hold his left arm close to his wrist. At 1:18, Hailey lets go of Child A's arm. At 1:25, Child A begins to scoot his body to the edge of the mat toward Hailey. At 1:29, Child A gets on his hands and knees to stand up. At 1:30, Child A begins to stand up and is on two feet, and Hailey uses her right foot on Child A's left hip/lower back area to push Child A back to the ground on the mat. Child A climbs up some foam play equipment and out of camera view. At 2:19, Child A walks into view and toward Hailey. At 2:21, Hailey uses her right hand on Child A's head to attempt to push Child A down to a sitting position on the mat, it appears. At 2:24, Hailey uses her right hand to grab Child A's left arm/wrist to pull him toward her and then push away from her in what appears is another attempt to get Child A to sit on the mat.
On September 24, 2024, CI Radney conducted interviews with Kristy Eggleston, Amanda Decker, and Shanelle Clifford. Kristy reported Shanelle came to them and told them about the incident. They pulled the video footage. Hailey is the caregiver in the video. They observed on video that Hailey grabbed Child A's arm and redirected him back to the mat. She then scooted him back on the mat with her foot because he was trying to get up and she didn't want him to. She contacted Human Resources and Hailey was terminated. Amanda reported Shanelle came to them and told them about the incident. They reviewed the video. They observed Hailey grab Child A's arm and redirect him to the mat and then push Child A with her foot back onto the mat when he was trying to stand up. They contacted Human Resources and terminated Hailey. Shanelle reported Hailey was frustrated with Child A. They were trying to get all the children to sit on the mat to transition to the playground. Child A kept getting up and moving from the mat. Hailey grabbed Child A's arm and kind of swung him around and forced him to sit. Hailey told Child A to move and kicked him with her foot on his hip/thigh area. Child A got upset for a second and just walked away. Hailey again grabbed Child A's arm and swung him and forced him to sit. She stepped in because she was uncomfortable with Hailey being irritated and how she was behaving with Child A.
On November 5, 2024, CI Radney conducted an interview with Hailey Gee. It never occurred to her that it was too rough because she tends to play a little rougher because she babysits most of them at home. She realizes in the daycare setting that she shouldn't bet that rough. She didn't realize she had been that rough. She was getting a little frustrated with the other teacher because she wasn't helping her contain Child A. All of the children in her classroom were 1 year old. They were getting ready to go outside, and the other teacher wasn't helping her keep the kids on the mat. She let that slightly affect how she handled the kids. They were getting ready to leave the classroom, and they have to do name-to-face while they check them off on the iPad before they bring them outside, which is why she needed him to sit on the mat and look at her. The next day she got a call telling her she can't come back in until they call and tell her otherwise because of a report made to them about her being too rough with kids. She called Human Resources, and they told her about the incident and said she was too rough with Child A.
On October 11, 2024, CI Radney conducted an interview with Parent B. He reported the director called his wife and said there was an incident with the teacher and his child that led to the teacher being fired. They said Child A was grabbed by the forearm and sat down, and the teacher tried to scoot him with her foot.
On November 5, 2024, CI Radney conducted an interview with Parent A. She reported the director called her on Friday and told her that there was a teacher that was too rough with Child A, and they had let her go. They told her she pulled his arm too hard and she used his foot to push him over onto the rug. They contacted the Human Resource office to review the video. She observed the teacher pull Child A by the arm and hold him down with her foot.
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