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On June 9, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging Child A (7 years old) and Child B (10 years old) have been repeatedly hurt by Child C (7-9 years old). This started in March 2026 and has escalated since. For the majority of the incidents, they did not find out until the end of the day, even after they had a meeting with Holly (director), and she stated moving forward she would call and notify them when any incidents occur. After conducting the investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Rebecca Muckelrath finds the allegation to be substantiated. This conclusion is based on the following evidence of licensing rule violations which occurred at the facility:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)11: Children shall not be permitted to intimidate or harm others, harm themselves, or destroy property.
On June 11, 2026, CI Muckelrath conducted an unannounced inspection and interviewed Director Holly Conner, Teacher Jensen Vanderbol, Child A (7 years old) and Child B (9 years old). Director Holly Conner stated most incidents with Child C happen when he is playing with other children. Child C does not know when to stop, and then his actions become harmful. Since April 2026, there have been 14 incidents. Teacher Jensen Vanderbol reported she has told Director Holly Conner the class environment with Child C is unsafe for the other children. She does not feel the school is doing enough to keep the other children in the classroom safe from Child C. Child C physically hurts the children in her classroom and there is no way for her to keep children safe when Child C is in the classroom. She cannot conduct any classroom activities when Child C is present, because she typically spends the entire class trying to keep him from hurting the other children in the room. She has not received any training to handle the behaviors of Child C. She is only allowed to ask Child C to stop when he is hitting or choking other children. Child C choked and hit Child A when no one was in the room helping her. There was a recent incident where she was the only teacher in the classroom with Child C and one other child. Child C got on top of a kitchenette in the classroom and then jumped down, pulled the kitchenette over, and pulled a bottom wooden slat off, leaving nails exposed in the slat. Child C ran at the other child in the room with the slat in his hands. She removed herself and the other child from the room for safety. Child C then used the wooden slat to beat the floor. Director Holly Conner had to go in and retrieve the wooden slat from Child C. Child C had no consequences for his behavior. There was an incident on June 9, 2026, when Child C was hitting Child A in the back and it looked as if he was doing so in a stabbing motion. Child A had welts on his back from Child C's behavior. When Child C gets mad enough, he will hit teachers. Child A stated that Child C hits him often. He does not feel safe when Child C is at daycare. Child B stated he is bullied by Child C and that Child C is really mean and hits everyone. He hides when Child C begins to hit people. He has hidden behind teachers to stay safe from Child C.
On June 11, 2026, CI Muckelrath conducted an unannounced walkthrough and observed 14 incident reports of aggressive behavior from Child C to Child A and Child B. The first incident report is dated April 7, 2026, and the last incident report is dated June 8, 2026. CI Muckelrath also observed a picture of Child C on top of the class kitchenette, the wooden slat with nails and video of Child C hitting the wooden slat on the classroom floor. The video is a 2 second video that begins with the kitchenette Child C was standing on in the picture turned over facing down. At the one second mark the video pans over to show Child C hitting what appears to be the classroom floor with a wooden slat. Child C hit the floor one time and can be seen lifting the wooden slat up to possibly hit the floor again when the video cuts off.
On July 7, 2026, CI Muckelrath interviewed Parent A (Parent of Child A and Child B) and Parent B (Grandparent of Child C). Parent A stated she does not believe the school would have done anything to keep her children safe if there wasn't an investigation. Child A and Child B have reported to her that they are scared of Child C. Child A and Child B have been scared to attend school due to the behaviors of Child C. She has been concerned about the safety of her children. Parent B reported she has received reports of Child C's behavior, but no one had called to address the issue with her or said anything to her about his behavior when she picks Child C up in the afternoon. She was unaware Child C's behavior was this severe. She has had concerns about the class because there have been so many staffing changes in the room with Child C, and she never knows who is going to be in there with Child C.
On July 24, 2026, CI Muckelrath interviewed Child A, who stated he does get mad at school.
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