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Pulling inspections, violations, and complaints.
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Pulling inspections, violations, and complaints.
Home › MI › Central Lake › Central Lake Public Schools
8190 West State Street, Central Lake MI 49622 · License #DC050304123 · Center · Center
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When they operate
Ages served
R 400.8125 · R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. ............................................ ... (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.
On 09/13/2022, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection at the center and discussed the information provided in a 09/07/2022 incident report with program director and licensee designee Ms. Anne Thornton. She stated that 09/06/2022 was the first day of the school year. The lead caregiver in Child A's classroom came to her to discuss concerns about Child A running away from staff. Classroom staff were aware that Child A was a flight risk because she was observed running away from adults and opening classroom doors during the school's open house. During their discussion, Ms. Kendall requested that door alarms be installed 2 in the classroom to alert staff as an extra measure of precaution. They also talked about playground supervision and ways to ensure staff were able to provide active supervision of children outdoors. Approximately two minutes after leaving Ms. Thornton's office, Ms. Kendall opened the door from the playground and screamed down the hall for Ms. Thornton letting her know that Child A was missing. Ms. Thornton immediately called the front office to alert them, then went to the front doors of the school to look for Child A. The school was placed on lockdown while secretaries, custodians, and child care staff members searched for Child A. The community police officer was also contacted and arrived a short time later. Ms. Thornton circled back from the front doors, went down the child care hallway, and looked in the toddler room. She found Child A alone in the book area reading books. Child A did not appear frightened or concerned about being in a classroom by herself. Ms. Thornton explained that the toddler room staff had taken all of the children on a neighborhood walk, which was why the room was unoccupied. She estimated that between five and seven minutes elapsed between the time Ms. Kendall yelled for her help and when she found Child A in the toddler room. Since the incident, they have instituted new protocols that includes better playground monitoring and ensuring that all exterior classroom doors are always closed and inaccessible from the outside. They also installed alarms on the classroom doors to ensure that everyone is alerted whenever a door is opened. On 09/13/2022, I conducted an onsite interview with Ms. Kendall. She stated that she knew Child A and her family and was aware that she tended to wander away without being noticed because it happened to Child A's Mother several times at home. At least once, Child A was found in the neighborhood without her mother even knowing she had left the house. On 09/06/2022, Ms. Kendall was in Ms. Thornton's office talking to her about installing door alarms in the classroom while child care staff members Mr. Craig Buechel and Mr. Jacob Wolgamott were outside with the preschool class of 13 children. After speaking with Ms. Thornton, she went back to the preschool classroom. Moments later, Mr. Buechel opened the door from the playground and asked if Child A had come in through that door. Ms. Kendall immediately ran outside and counted the children on the playground. She assumed that Child A had left the fenced playground through the back gate and headed toward the woods, so that is where Ms. Kendall started her search. When she did not see Child A, she ran back to the building and yelled for Ms. Thornton, then went around the back of the school building to look for Child A. She met up with Ms. Thornton outside the front doors of the school. Ms. Kendall went back to the preschool class who were still on the playground with Mr. Buechel and Mr. Wolgamott, then brought the children inside for lockdown. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Thornton entered the classroom with Child A. She did not know how much time passed between finding out Child A was missing and Ms. Thornton bringing her back, but it felt like forever. Ms. Kendall told Mr. Buechel and Mr. Wolgamott that they had to keep an eye on Child A at all times. She also told them that they needed to station themselves at
On 09/06/2022, Child A (three-year-old, female) left the playground without staff immediately noticing. She was found in an unoccupied classroom approximately 10 to 15 minutes after staff realized she was missing.
Disposition: Substantiated
On 02/24/2022, child care staff member (CCSM) Ms. Deborah Groesser swatted Child A (23-month-old, male) on the bottom.
Disposition: Substantiated
Generated from this facility's specific inspection record
Data synced from Michigan MiLEAP, Child Care Licensing Bureau on Jul 9, 2026 · Source records · Report an error
Open Not marked corrected in the state record
Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.
R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.
On 02/25/2022, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection at Central Lake Public Schools. I interviewed licensee designee Ms. Lenore Weaver about the allegation. She stated that on 02/24/2022, she was informed that Ms. Groesser had engaged in inappropriate physical discipline of Child A that morning by swatting his bottom as she was attempting to prevent him from biting another child. This was the second time Ms. Groesser had swatted Child A's bottom at child care. The first time it happened was in the fall of 2021. That time, program director Ms. Megan Gardner saw it and Ms. Groesser admitted to doing it. This time, Ms. Groesser said that she did not remember swatting Child A. She explained that Ms. Groesser has a close personal relationship with Child A's family because she babysits for Child A and Child B (3-year-old, male). Child A and B's Mother was aware of both incidents and did not have a problem with Ms. Groesser's behavior. When the first incident happened in the fall, Ms. Weaver struggled with whether or not to report it to child care licensing because there were no marks and she did not think it rose to the level of abuse. Ms. Weaver made it clear to Ms. Groesser at that time that it could never happen again. She did not have any documentation pertaining to the first incident, nor did she document her discussion about it with Ms. Groesser. This time, Ms. Weaver initiated disciplinary action against Ms. Groesser and terminated her employment immediately. During the onsite investigation on 02/25/2022, I interviewed program director Ms. Megan Gardner about the incident. She stated that on 02/24/2022, she received a text message from CCSM Ms. Nicole Korb saying that Ms. Groesser had spanked Child A with either a paperback book or a stack of papers. It sounded like she did it as an intervention to prevent Child A from biting another child and that the swat was her first reaction to seeing that Child A was about to bite. After learning of the incident, Ms. Gardner met with school Superintendent and licensee designee Ms. Weaver to let her know what happened. Ms. Gardner also witnessed something similar between Ms. Groesser and Child A this past fall. At the time, she was in the hallway outside of the toddler classroom and heard yelling. She looked through the window, heard Ms. Groesser yell, "No, [Child A]!" She then saw Ms. Groesser spank Child A on the bottom with her hand. Child A was in front of the sink playing with water when he was spanked. She immediately informed Ms. Weaver of what happened. Ms. Groesser was placed on administrative leave for the remainder of the day and the following day. At the time she thought the incident should be reported to child care licensing, but Ms. Weaver told her that she was taking care of it.. When Child A's Mother was told about the first spanking incident, she asked them not to take further action against Ms. Groesser because she watches him outside of school and did not think her actions were inappropriate. Ms. Gardner did not know what the outcome of the most recent incident was because once she informed Ms. Weaver about what happened, she was no longer involved. She was not aware of any other instances of Ms. Groesser using physical discipline of children. The other staff who work with Ms. Groesser indicated that they did not like the way she handled conflict 3 between children because she mostly sat in her chair and yelled instead of getting up to address issues. With the exception of the most recent incident, none of the staff reported any other instances of Ms. Groesser using physical punishment with children. During my onsite interview on 02/25/2022 with CCSM Ms. Korb, she stated that sometime between 8:58 and 9:05 AM the day before, Child A and another child were playing near Ms. Groesser as she sat at her desk. It looked like Child A was about to bite the other child because he was going for the car that Child A had been playing with a moment earlier. That was when Ms.
Open Not marked corrected in the state record
Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.
R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (2) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall report to the child's parent and the department, directly or via phone, fax, or email, within 24 hours of the occurrence of any of the following: (b) An incident involving an allegation of inappropriate contact. 5
Licensee designee Ms. Weaver did not ensure that a report was made to the department within 24 hours of the occurrence of an allegation of inappropriate contact. In the fall of 2021, Ms. Groesser swatted Child A's bottom. Ms. Weaver did not report the incident to the department at that time.
Open Not marked corrected in the state record
Category: health medication. Open / not marked corrected.
R 400.8158(4) · 1 R 400.8158(4) Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (4) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall submit a written report to the department of the occurrences outlined in subrules (1), (2), and (3) of this rule, in a format provided by the department, within 72 hours of the verbal report to the department.
Licensee designee Ms. Weaver did not ensure that a written report was submitted to the department within 72 hours of the occurrence of an allegation of inappropriate contact. In the fall of 2021, Ms. Groesser swatted Child A's bottom. Ms. Weaver did not report the incident to the department at that time.
Open Not marked corrected in the state record
Category: health medication. Open / not marked corrected.