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On January 30, 2025, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that on January 29, 2025, at 8:10 a.m., Child A (4-years-old) was bitten on the finger and the privates at Lakeside Children's Academy, Inc. Parent A (parent of Child A) was notified about the bite mark on the finger but not on the privates. The incident report only listed the bite on the finger as well. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Patrick O'Malley has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.192(5)(B)., which states: "Information regarding the date and circumstance of any accident or injury shall be noted in the child's record."
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5 CSR 25-500.192(5)(A), which states the following: "In case of accident or injury to a child, the provider shall notify the parent(s) immediately. If the child requires emergency medical care, the provider shall follow the parent's(s') written instructions."
On February 3, 2025, CI O'Malley conducted a phone interview with Parent A, who stated that on the morning of Wednesday, January 29, 2025, she was contacted by staff Mara Coy, who reported that Child A was bitten on a finger by Child B (4-years-old). Ms. Coy reported that the skin had not been broken and the only treatment Child A required was an ice pack. Parent A picked up Child A at the regular time and received an incident report that showed Child A had been bitten on a finger. After arriving home, Child A reported that he had been bitten on the penis, not the finger. Parent A examined Child A's penis and observed two scabbed over wounds to the tip of the penis, one on each side. Child A reported that he was knocked down by Child B and then was bitten through his clothes by Child B. Child A had been bitten multiple times by Child B in the past, but never on the genitals. Parent A did not think the incident was sexual, Child B just happened to bite Child A at an inappropriate location. On Thursday, January 30, 2025, Parent A spoke to director Laura Schlereth, who reported that Ms. Coy was not present for the incident and thus misspoke when relaying the information to Parent A. Ms. Schlereth reported that as the primary teacher, Ms. Coy was responsible for contacting parents and completing incident reports. Ms. Schlereth reported that staff Loretta Rose was present for the incident and assisted Ms. Coy with completing the incident report but did not correct Ms. Coy when she wrote that Child A's finger had been bitten. Child A was no longer enrolled at the facility.
On February 3, 2025, CI O'Malley conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility an observed an incident report for Child A, dated January 29, 2025, which shows, "[Child A] was playing w/ a friend and friend became upset and friend bit [Child A] on his finger. No skin broke but left mark." The report shows the incident happened at 8:10 AM and was witnessed by Ms. Loretta. A signature for Ms. Parr and Parent A were also on the report.
CI O'Malley conducted interviews with director Laura Schlereth, staff Judy Parr, Loretta Rose, Mara Coy, and Pam Hunt. Pam stated that she was a floater and did not work regularly in the preschool classroom. On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, she and Ms. Rose were working in the preschool classroom when she heard Child A scream. Ms. Hunt looked up from the group of children she was working with and saw Child A sitting on the couch, crying, and Child B running away from the couch. Child A said, "He bit my pee-pee!" Ms. Hunt called supervisor Ms. Parr into the classroom. Ms. Parr took Child A into the restroom to examine Child A's injury. Ms. Hunt talked to Child B, who reported, "[Child A] was trying to fight me!" Ms. Hunt did not observe Child B bite Child A or Child A's injury.
Staff Loretta Rose stated that she and Ms. Hunt were working in the classroom because the primary teacher, Ms. Coy, was conducting a parent conference. Ms. Rose was working at the front of the classroom when Child A yelled. Ms. Hunt reported that Child B bit Child A. Ms. Rose called supervisor Ms. Parr into the classroom. Child A reported that he was bitten on the penis; she and Ms. Parr examined Child A's injury in the restroom. The tip of Child A's penis was bruised but not bleeding. Ms. Parr gave Child A an ice pack. Ms. Coy returned to the classroom and Ms. Parr instructed Ms. Coy to complete an incident report and contact Child A's parents. Ms. Rose noticed that Ms. Coy wrote that Child A had been bitten on the finger. Ms. Rose did not correct Ms. Coy because Ms. Coy has gotten upset about being corrected before. Ms. Rose found Ms. Coy to be intimidating.
Staff Judy Parr stated that she was called into the classroom by Ms. Rose, who reported that Child A had been bitten on the penis. Ms. Parr examined Child A's injury but did not observe any bleeding. Ms. Parr gave Child A an ice pack. Ms. Coy returned to the classroom and Ms. Parr provided Ms. Coy with a rundown of the incident. Ms. Parr instructed Ms. Coy to write an incident report and contact Child A's parents. Ms. Parr reviewed the incident report but did not catch that Ms. Coy had written "finger" instead of "penis." Ms. Parr approved the incident report before it was provided to Parent A.
Staff Mara Coy stated that she was in a conference during the incident. When she returned to the classroom, Ms. Hunt informed her that Child A had been bitten by Child B. Ms. Coy saw Child A with an ice pack to his finger and assumed that Child A had been bitten on the finger. Ms. Coy and Ms. Rose completed an incident report, but Ms. Rose did not correct her when she wrote "finger." Ms. Coy contacted Parent A via phone and reported that Child A had been bitten on the finger. Child A did not complain of pain or discomfort the rest of the day.
Director Laura Schlereth stated that Ms. Rose, Ms. Coy, and Ms. Parr were all placed on thirty-day probations. Ms. Rose, Ms. Coy, and Ms. Parr were all retrained on completing incident reports.
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