|
On April 13, 2026, the Office of Childhood received allegations that on April 09, 2026, staff member Denne Spooner was observed by another parent to grab Child A (4-years-old, but 3-years-old at time of incident), by one wrist and take a toy out of the child's other hand. Child A has 3 bruises on her right wrist. After completing an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth found these allegations to be substantiated based on the following rule violations:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)7. which states: "Physical punishment including, but not limited to, spanking, slapping, shaking, biting, or pulling hair shall be prohibited."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)3. which states: "Only constructive, age-appropriate methods of discipline shall be used to help children develop self-control and assume responsibility for their own actions."
On April 13, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an in-person interview with Parent A (parent of Child A) and Child A. Parent A explained that on April 9, 2026, she received a call from Parent D (parent of Child D and Child E) who said she saw a teacher named Denne grab Child A's arm and take a toy from her. She did not think much of it, but that evening she noticed bruises on Child A's right arm that looked like finger marks. She had not noticed the bruising earlier in the week. She took photos of Child A's arm and called the director, Taylor Dames. Taylor then talked to Denne who said that she only grabbed Child A's left arm to help her stand up. Parent A asked Child A about the bruises, and she said, "They squeezed my arm." She asked who squeezed her arm and Child A said "the teacher" but did not say who. Parent A stated that Denne is not Child A's regular teacher, and she had not met her before. Child A will be returning to care at the center because she has a great relationship with the daycare and the other teachers.
Child A said she had an "owie" on her arm, but it is all gone now. She said someone grabbed her arm in the classroom, but replied, "I don't know" when asked who grabbed her arm. She said she likes going to the daycare and she plays there.
CI Ruth observed the three photos of Child A's arm that Parent A took. CI Ruth observed three reddish bruises above the wrist but below the elbow. The bruises are oval shaped an appear to be consistent with the shape of fingertips.
CI Ruth observed Child A's right arm and observed one remaining faded bruise on Child A's arm below the elbow.
On April 13, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and held in-person interviews with the director, Taylor Dames, and caregivers, Denne Spooner, Taelor Winberry, Mya Deroy, and children, Child A (3-years-old) and Child B (3-years-old). Taylor Dames stated that Denne is a fill-in substitute teacher and a retired nurse who only works at the center occasionally. She has no concerns about Denne and there have been no parent, child, or staff complaints about her. When Parent A called and told her about the situation, she talked to Denne who explained that she guided Child A by her upper left arm because Child A was in the corner with her right arm buried into the corner. Taylor felt that the stories did not match because Child A's bruising was on her right arm. She noticed the bruises on Child A that day in the afternoon, but thought the marks looked old. She does not believe that Child A's bruises came from Denne and said they could have come from anywhere because Child A is a rough and tumble child who always has a few bruises. She said she will likely be installing cameras after this.
Denne said that Parent D arrived and was standing in the doorway of the classroom when Child A took a toy away from another child, and Denne told Child A that she needed to share. Child A ran off and went behind the desk, and Parent D was telling Child A to come to her. Denne told Parent D that Child A would be okay, and she took Child A's left upper arm to help her stand up from behind the desk and lead her back to the table. Child A pulled away from her and ran back to the table. She didn't think anything of it and did not think anything was wrong. She said that all the kids have marks on them, but she did not notice anything particular on Child A, and Child A never cried or said she was hurt. She said she would never grab a child hard enough to hurt them, and she cannot think of another interaction that would have caused harm or bruising to Child A.
Taelor Winberry said that she was not working in Child A's class that day and she has no concerns about Denne.
Mya said that on April 9, 2026, she was in the classroom with Taelor Winberry and Parent D dropped her kids off around 9:00 a.m. She said Denne was not present in the room at that time and Parent D asked if she could see Child A. Parent D took Child A into the hall and took photos of her arms. Parent D said that another teacher had grabbed Child A's arm over a toy and said that it happened yesterday or a few days ago.
Child B said that he likes coming to school and his teacher is Taelor Winberry. He said he knows Denne and she is nice.
Child C said that she likes Denne, and they play with kitchen together.
On April 14, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Parent D. She explained that she was dropping off her children and Child D (4-years-old) said that Child A was not sharing a toy. They had just arrived, and Child D must have thought that she should get the toy. Denne, told Child A to give the toy to Child D and Child A said "no." Denne then grabbed Child A's right arm and took the toy out of Child A's left hand and handed it to Child D. There was no communication or talks of sharing, she just grabbed Child A's arm and took the toy away. Child A seemed upset and crawled under a desk. Parent D stayed to see if she could console or calm Child A, because she knows her and her family personally. Denne said Child A was fine and went to pick her up. Child A did not resist Denny picking her up and seemed like she was okay, so Parent D left. She then called Parent A to let her know, in case Child A had a bad day as a result of this interaction. That night Parent A called her back and sent her pictures of bruising on Child A's right arm. She asked Parent A if she could take a picture as well, during drop off the following day, and Parent A gave permission. Parent A said she talked to the director, Taylor, who told her that she thought the bruises looked old. She had never been introduced to Denne, and this was maybe her second time seeing her, but the first time she saw Denne, Child D ran up to her and gave her a hug. She asked Child D if Denne has ever grabbed her arm, to which Child D replied, "no, just Child A."
CI Ruth observed the photo that Parent D took of Child A's right arm on Friday, April 10, 2026. This photo is close-up and shows three red marks. The marks are oval shaped and two of them appeared to be fading.
On April 14, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with the director, Taylor Dames and Mya. Taylor Dames said that she wrote an incident report on Monday, April 13, 2026, after she was informed about the investigation. She filled in the names and the time, and Denny wrote the explanation based on what she thought the incident was. Mya stated that when she was talking to me the day before, she did not realize that I was asking about Thursday, April 9, 2026. She was not in Child A's classroom that day, and she was telling me about events that occurred on Friday, April 10, 2026. When Parent D was taking pictures of Child A's arm, that was on Friday, April 10, 2026. She said she has worked with Denne and she seemed nice and was good with the kids. She has not seen Denne grab or pull a child by the arm.
On April 14, 2026, CI Ruth observed an accident report that was written on Monday April 13, 2026. The date of the incident is not filled in, and the time is recorded as "8:00". The report lists Child A as the child involved, Denne as the teacher present, and the classroom as the location. The description reads, "Child took toy from another child. I walked over to children. Told [Child A] she could play with it later, we had to share & returned toy to other child. [Child A] became upset, ran to teachers desk & crouched down with face to desk. I went to [Child A], bent & took her by the left upper arm to help her up to redirect to another activity. She jerked arm from me & turned and ran back to table to play." CI Ruth observed that the report is not signed or dated.
On April 22, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Parent B (parent of Child B). She said that Child B has been going to the center since he was 3-months-old and her older daughter also attended. She does not know a teacher named Denne, but she has no concerns about any staff members. She has liked the center a lot and Child B is excited to go to school every day.
CI Ruth made multiple attempts to contact and interview Parent C (parent of Child C) but was unsuccessful.
On April 30, 2026, CI Ruth observed an interview with Child A, who did not disclose any information relevant to the investigation.
On April 30, 2026, CI Ruth held an in-person interview with Parent A who said that Child A is very resilient and does not hold onto negative events. She thinks that Child A did not disclose information in her interview, likely because she has already moved on from the situation in her mind. Child A said that Denne grabbed her arm when she asked her about it.
|