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On February 18, 2025, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging that on Monday, February 17, 2025, at 1:36 p.m., the thermostat in the center read 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The center owners or director have not contacted parents about the extreme temperature inside the building or announced an early closure. After conducting the investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Cole Eddins finds the allegation is substantiated. This conclusion is based on the following evidence of licensing rule violations which occurred at the facility:
5 CSR 25-500.082(2)(A)5. which stated: "The facility shall be dry, temperature controlled, well-ventilated and free of drafts. Children shall not be overheated or chilled. The temperature of the rooms shall be no less than sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit (68F) and no more than eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit (85F) when measured two feet (2') from the floor."
On February 18, 2025, CI Eddins conducted an unannounced inspection and interviewed Director Kristin Matthias, Caregiver JT Handley, and Caregiver Angela Montgomery. Kristin stated that she first heard about a temperature-related concern on February 17, 2025, when she received a call from Caregiver Trishell Jones, who stated that the facility was below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Trishell told her that the daycare was around 58 degrees Fahrenheit and had been since she opened before 7:30 a.m. She rushed over to the daycare and observed the daycare to be around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, so she contacted her supervisor, Corporate Manager Amy Bonnea-Smith for assistance. Amy instructed her to wait to see if their HVAC handyman could swing by the facility to fix the broken heater quickly. Temperatures were not rising, and the daycare remained below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Before the HVAC handyman arrived, she and Amy decided to send the Pre-K and school-age children home. A ProCare message was sent to parents at 1:18 p.m. to come and get their children. She reopened her daycare on February 18, 2025 and observed that the facility thermostat was reading 69 degrees Fahrenheit. She admitted that the rooms felt cold, but she assumed the heater had been fixed after the handyman arrived the day prior. She observed CI Eddins' temperature gun reading around 64 to 65 degrees in the pre-kindergarten and school-age classrooms, so she attempted to turn up the heat. She observed that the heat did not rise after 30 minutes and assumed that the thermometer and heater were still not fixed. She sent out a new ProCare message at 1:41 p.m. to parents so they could get their children as soon as possible.
JT stated that she heard from Trishell that the daycare was below 60 degrees Fahrenheit when she arrived at the daycare at around 7:30 a.m. She could tell that the daycare was way too cold on both February 17, 2025, and February 18, 2025. She heard that the facility was having a problem with its heater and that the facility was having trouble maintaining temperatures above 68 degrees Fahrenheit on the entire left side of the facility. The children were eventually sent home on February 17, 2025, but she felt that they were sent home way too late in the day. Children were not sent home until after lunch on February 17, 2025, when they should have been sent home in the morning. The facility was kept under 68 degrees Fahrenheit for the majority of the day on both February 17, 2025, and February 18, 2025. Angela stated that she heard from Trishell and JT that the daycare was below 60 degrees Fahrenheit when they arrived to open the daycare on February 17, 2025. She felt as though the facility was really cold and kept around 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit on both February 17, 2025, and February 18, 2025. She heard that the facility was having a problem with its main heater on February 17, 2025, and she assumed the heater was still not fixed on February 18, 2025. The facility did not reach above 68 degrees Fahrenheit for the majority of the day on both February 17, 2025, and February 18, 2025. The children were eventually sent home on February 17, 2025, sometime after lunch.
On March 5, 2025, CI Eddins interviewed Trishell and Parent C. Trishell stated she first arrived at the facility at around 7:30 a.m., and she could immediately tell that the temperature felt very cold once she walked into the older kid classrooms. She peeked at the main facility thermostat, and it read 55 degrees Fahrenheit. She messaged Kristin to let her know that she and the children were very cold. Some of the children were not wanting to take their coats off due to the low temperature. Kristin arrived sometime in the morning and turned up the thermostat, but the heat never rose. The temperature did not rise above 60 degrees all day. Parents were notified over ProCare at around 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. on February 17, 2025, but she could not remember the exact time. Management responded way too slowly to the heater concern. Parent C stated that she remembers receiving a notification on ProCare sometime after lunch time on February 17, 2025, and February 18, 2025 that the daycare was closing down due to a heater-related concern. She heard that the daycare was too cold, and that the daycare had to close down for the afternoon on both days.
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