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On March 30, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a complaint alleging that a situation happened where they transferred kids, and one of the kids was left outside by herself because of rotation of rooms for kids and improper communication and training on how things go. On Thursday, March 26, 2026, she was in the Pre-K room with her daughter (still works there) at the end of the day. They both took the class outside to the playground and there was another class of 2 and 3-year-olds outside playing. Her daughter left for the day, and she was left alone with her class. Around 5:00 p.m., when it was time to go back inside, she lined her kids up by the door they use and the other classroom's teacher took her children to the other door on the opposite side of the playground that the reporter could not see. The reporter walked her kids inside to her classroom. The other teacher (name unknown) told Child A, 3 year old, to get out of her line and go over to the reporter's line and go to her classroom. Child A had been in the other teacher's room all day and was transferring to the reporter's room. The reporter didn't see or receive Child A by the time she went inside and did not know she was supposed to have Child A in her care. Around 5:10/5:15 p.m., Child A's mom comes to her classroom and states that she just went to the other room and Child A was not there, and Child A was also not in Adrianne's room. Child A's mom found Child A outside on the playground alone. Child A was left alone for approximately 10-15 minutes without anyone noticing. Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an investigation of the allegation and found it to be substantiated based on the following information:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1. - Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision.
and
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)3. - Caregivers shall provide frequent, direct contact so children are not left unobserved on the premises.
and
5 CSR 25-500.082(6)(A)3. - Adult supervision shall be provided at all times when children are outside. For children three (3) years of age and above, staff/child ratios may be one and one-half (1 1/2) times the indoor staff/child ratios. The required indoor staff/child ratios shall be maintained on the premises at all times.
On April 7, 2026, CI Radney received and reviewed an incident report regarding the incident. The report is dated March 27, 2026 and states that teachers are supposed to count children as they enter the building and as they exit the building. The teacher did not do that, and Child A was left alone on the playground for approximately 12 minutes.
On April 7, 2026, CI Radney conducted interviews with Owner/Director Brittany Cole, Caregiver Bailey Lindsay, Caregiver Brooklynn Smith, and Parent A (Parent of Child A), who is also a caregiver. Brittany reported she reviewed video that shows that Child A (2 years old) was left alone outside on the playground for 12 minutes. Brooklynn Smith and Adrianne Mcmillan were in charge of the 3 to 5-year-olds. Bailey Lindsey was the teacher in charge of the 2-year-olds. At 4:30 p.m., the classes combine and Bailey clocks out. At 5:03 p.m., Adrianne brought the children inside. At 5:15 p.m., Parent A clocked Child A out and went inside the classroom to get Child A. Parent A asked if Child A was still outside and opened the door and found Child A alone outside. Caregivers are supposed to count going in and going out and compare that to how many children they have in Brightwheel. She does not believe that Adrianne counted the children before coming inside or once inside. Bailey reported she was the 2-year-old teacher. Child A was in her class. She went outside about 3:00 p.m. Around 4:00 p.m., she went inside to clean. She transferred her children over to the preschool class verbally and in Brightwheel, and then she told one of the teachers, Brooklynn, she was leaving. Mavree, Brooklynn and Adrianne were the teachers outside on the playground with the children when she went inside. She went in to her classroom to clean. Parent A came in later and gathered Child A's things. Parent A came back moments later with Child A and told her that Child A was left outside alone. Brooklynn reported she and Adrianne were together in ratio with about 20 preschoolers on the playground. Bailey brought her class, six 2-year-olds, outside on the playground to join them. Bailey went inside about 4:00 p.m. to clean. On Brightwheel, they could see the children they were responsible for. Bailey told her and Adrianne that she was going inside. She clocked out next, around 4:45 p.m. She left Adrianne alone outside with the children. There were nine children total outside. She told Adrianne she was going in, and there were nine children left. Parent A reported she came in to the daycare and clocked Child A out. She went to get Child A's belongings out of her cubby. The teachers said she was in the other classroom. She went to the other classroom, and they said Child A wasn't in there. She said "I think she's outside." She went to the door and went outside, Adrianne followed her and Child A was outside.
On May 18, 2026, CI Radney conducted an interview with Adrianne Macmillan. She reported the doors are on two opposite sides of the building. She had only worked there for two months, and in that class every other day. She didn't remember that she was supposed to take the toddlers. Two classes were playing together on the playground. Both classes went inside at the same time. At the end of the day, the 2 to 3-year-olds come to the 4 to 5-year-old's class. She went outside with Brooklynn and the other teacher. She and Brooklynn were with the 4 to 5-year-olds. The other teacher was with the 2 to 3-year-olds. She doesn't remember how many kids she had; she never counted the kids. Her daughter (Brooklynn) counted the kids all the time. She believes they went inside about 5:05 p.m. The parent came to her class and asked for Child A. She said Child A was in the other room. Parent A said she came from the other room, and she thought Child A was outside. They went outside, and Child A was wandering around outside. When Brooklynn was leaving, Brooklynn told her how many children she was leaving in her care. She did not count children when she went inside. She's never counted the children ever; Brooklynn has always done that.
On May 18, 2026, CI Radney conducted an interview with Caregiver Mavree Smith. She was there the day that Child A was left outside. She was with the infant class when the incident occurred. She was outside with the preschoolers and 2-year-olds and infants. She brought her two infants inside, and the rest were still outside. She learned about the incident when she ran into the preschool room to grab a sweatshirt she left, and Adrianne said "I left a little girl outside on accident because I thought she was supposed to go with you."
Based on the information provided, caregivers did not provide frequent, direct contact and Child A was left unsupervised on the premises for approximately 12 minutes.
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