R 400.8125 · 1 R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times. 4

On 11/10/2021 program director, Erica Traylor submitted an incident report outlining a situation where Child A exited the building, during dismissal, without any supervision. The teachers did not know he was missing until his mother walked him back into the building. On 11/12/2021, I interviewed Child A's Mother. She was driving into the parking lot with her daughter to pick up Child A. She observed him walking down the sidewalk away from the school. By the time she parked, someone was walking him up to the school entrance. Child A was waiting at the door for her with two adults. One of them told her he followed someone out the building and she should talk with his teacher. Child A's Mother walked into the building and immediately saw child care staff members (CCSM) Beatrice Rudd and Danielle Hall. Ms. Rudd immediately said she was concerned and had been looking for him. She then told Child A the importance of staying with his teachers and not wandering off. Child A's Mother was not clear as to what happened and believes the "frenzy" of dismissal made it difficult to understand what Ms. Hall or Ms. Rudd may have been trying to explain to her. There have been no problem or concerns with the facility in the past and Child A continues to attend the center. On 11/19/2021, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection and interviewed Ms. Erica Traylor. At approximately 3:30p.m. the day of the incident, she was walking down the hall to the pre-k rooms. CCSM Ms. Danielle Hall called her name and stated, "I want you to know a child was missing. We did not know where he was until his mother came in the building with him. He was missing on our watch." Ms. Traylor learned it was Child A and requested all staff submit a written statement to her about the incident. She interviewed all caregivers present and learned one of the caregivers, Ms. Beatrice Rudd was not supervising children as required during dismissal with Ms. Hall. She instead was in the classroom talking with the maintenance man. According to Ms. Traylor, all staff are required to provide supervision of children at all times, especially during arrival and departure times. Staff should be dismissing children from the classroom and not the hallway due to it being hectic and easy for children to wander away. Ms. Rudd was expected to help with supervision and had she been completing her job duties of counting children and closely monitoring movement, it's possible Child A would not have left the building unsupervised. Ms. Traylor and her staff are uncertain who the person was that walked Child A back to the building. It was originally assumed to be another teacher, but it's believed it was a parent, but no one has come forward. It's believed Child A was out the building, without supervision, for no more than 5 minutes when he returned inside the building with his mother. 3 On 11/23/2021, I interviewed CCSM Danielle Hall and Beatrice Rudd. I also interviewed the building custodian, Ms. Hall states she made an honest mistake when Child A left the building while in her care. She must have turned her back to talk with parents arriving to pick up their child when Child A followed someone out the building. She was working in Classroom B and responsible for supervising seven children, 2 to 3 years of age, 1/2 during afternoon dismissal. Ms. Beatrice Hall was working with her, but she was in the classroom talking with the maintenance man who was laying a rug. When he arrived, she was asked to take the children to the hallway and wait for their parents to arrive since it was dismissal time. The children were sitting in the hallway against the wall. Ms. Hall was not aware Child A wandered off until she saw him walk through the door with his mother. She feels bad about the incident. Ms. Rudd believes the incident could have been avoided if Ms. Traylor had been monitoring the exit and egress doors but she was not available. Arrival and departure is "hectic" and several children are typically i

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.