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On March 16, 2026, the Office of Childhood received an allegation that on Friday, March 13, 2026, Child A (age 3-years-old), threw a stick to staff member Jorja MacAfee, and then Jorja MacAfee threw a stick back to Child A. The stick hit Child A's forehead and left a mark. After completing an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following rule violations:
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."
On March 17, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and observed an incident report that was written on March 13, 2026, at 1:52 p.m. by staff member Kyla Riley. The child involved in the incident was listed as Child A (3-years-old) and the staff member listed as present was Kyla Riley. The nature of the incident was listed as "scratch on forehead" and the additional details state, "While outside, [Child A] thew a stick out of anger. Someone threw it back and it scraped his forehead. He was comforted and cleaned up. Then went back to playing."
CI Ruth held in-person interviews with the director, Ismeta Omerovic, preschool supervisor, Stefanie Ayotte, caregivers, Jessica Coleman, Kyla Riley, Stephanie Griffin, and Jorja MacAfee, and Child A (3-years-old), Child B (3-years-old), and Child C (4-years-old).
Ismeta stated that Child A was sitting outside and was mad and screaming because he did not want to put his shoes on and was refusing help. Child A picked up a stick on the ground next to him and threw it at Jorja, who was sitting a few feet away. Jorja tossed it back at Child A and the stick hit him on the forehead. Jessica reported the incident to her and another teacher wrote an incident report. Jorja told her she was just not thinking and threw it back at him as a quick reaction. Ismeta does not think it was malicious, but that Jorja was not thinking properly. She stated that Jorja is a good, reliable teacher, and the children and parents like her. She notified Parent A (parent of Child A), who was not concerned, and then made a hotline report. She reviewed the cameras, but could not see the incident within the frame.
Stefanie Ayotte stated that she is Jorja's direct supervisor. She said that Jorja is a good person, and this was a moment of not thinking. She has no concerns about Jorja and there have been no parent concerns. Jorja has worked there for three years and there have been no staff concerns, aside from this incident.
Jessica stated that Child A was sitting a few feet away from Jorja, and when she looked over, Jorja had a stick in her hand and threw it at Child A's face. The stick hit him on the forehead and he started crying. Her and another staff Stephanie Griffin, ran to check on him and asked Jorja why she did that. She replied that Child A was ok, and they were making a big deal out it. Jorja also said to Child A, "that's what you get, you should never be mean to my friend Kyla." She saw a knot on Child A's forehead and reported the incident to Ismeta.
Stephanie Griffin stated that Child A was with his main teacher, Kyla, and was not putting his shoes on and refusing help. He threw a stick that was next to him and Jorja picked up the stick and said, "Did you just throw a stick at me?" Jorja then threw it back at Child A and it hit him on the left side of the head. Child A cried and her, Kyla, and Jessica checked on him. She told Jorja that was not okay, and Jorja said he was fine and they were making a big deal out of it. Child A hid after that before going to play, and she saw a raised bump on his forehead with a cut in the middle. She has never seen Jorja throw something at a child before this, and has never seen her use physical punishment. She thinks Jorja can be a little unnecessarily aggressive with her tone sometimes, but the kids like her.
Kyla stated that she is Child A's main teacher and that Child A was sitting down when they came outside because he did not want to put his shoes on. She saw him pick up a stick on the ground next to him and throw it. She did not see Jorja throw the stick back at Child A because she turned her back, but she heard the other teachers react to it. Child A was crying and Jorja picked him up and apologized, and told him that we cannot throw sticks at people because someone could get hurt. Child A had a scratch that she cleaned off, but stated that it was not bleeding. Child A went to play shortly after, and she wrote and incident report that she sent to Parent A. She has never seen anything else concerning involving Jorja and the kids seem to like her.
Jorja stated that when Child A threw the stick at her, she reacted by picking it up and tossing it back, but her intentions were not to hurt him. She said she threw it back so he would understand that it is not okay to throw sticks and he would think about how it would make him feel. Child A cried, so she picked him up and asked if he was okay, and told him that is why they don't throw sticks. She did not notice any marks on Child A and would have written an incident report if she did. She said that she was not angry or frustrated, she just reacted in the wrong way. She said that next time, she would just leave the child alone and ignore the behavior, or she would verbally communicate that throwing sticks is not appropriate.
Child A did not name his teachers or talk about the incident, but when asked if he got hurt at school, he pointed to his forehead and said, "doctor". He nodded his head in agreement when asked if he likes coming to school.
CI Ruth observed a scab on the top of Child A's forehead, toward the right side, at the hairline. The scab was approximately the size of a pinhead. CI Ruth also observed a scab on the right side of Child A's nose that was slightly longer than the scab on the forehead. CI Ruth was unsure if the two marks are related.
On March 19, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Parent A. Parent A said that she was informed of the situation and she did not see any marks on Child A when she picked him up. Child A told her that the teacher did not hurt him. She is not upset and does not think that the teacher should be let go. She said that Child A loves attending the facility and she had no concerns.
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