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On May 12, 2025, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that a teacher, Jamie A has pushed and screamed at Child A (4-years-old) and verbally threatened several children in her care. On May 16, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and found the allegations to be substantiated based on the following information.
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)1. which states: "The provider shall establish simple, understandable rules for children's behavior and shall explain them to the children."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)4. which states: "Praise and encouragement of good behavior shall be used instead of focusing only upon unacceptable behavior."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)8. which states: "No discipline technique which is humiliating, threatening, or frightening to children shall be used. Children shall not be shamed, ridiculed, or spoken to harshly, abusively, or with profanity."
On May 16, 2025, (CI) Hughes conducted in person interviews with director Theodore Gansmann, caregivers Jamie Abegg, Ann Kempf, Katherine Neff, Kelsea Roccia and Angela Baughman and Child A, Child B and Child C.
Theodore stated that there was a situation on the playground with Jamie when she removed a child from the play structure and other staff members felt it was too rough. He was informed from Jamie that the child was falling, and she caught him. There were no marks on the child. He provided additional training for Jamie.
Ann stated that Jamie tends to get onto Child A (4-years-old) for somethings and not others. She tries to step in and deal with Child A instead of Jamie and has heard Jamie use phrases like "I told you so."
Katherine stated that she feels that Jamie picks on Child A and has expressed concerns to the director. Child A's mother has expressed concerns to her about Jamie. Jamie does not have the best communication skills with the parents.
Kelsea stated that Jamie was yelling at Child A about digging in the dirt but allowed other students to dig in the dirt. She has heard Jamie tell a child "Go away, I am done dealing with you." It's always Child A that she is getting on to and yelling at and she feels like she "pokes the bear" with Child A.
Angela stated that Jamie seems to get frustrated with Child A and she heard Jamie tell the children that "she was going to take them away". She has asked Jamie if she needs to walk away and Jamie gets combative.
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