Shettler Elementary

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

On 3/22/2023 I received a phone call from Jennifer Botbyl, licensee designee, indicating that they had an incident of inappropriate touching with two children on the playground. Ms. Botbyl forwarded an incident report as well. I completed an onsite inspection on 3/29/2023. During this time, I spoke with Ms. Botbyl, Child Care Staff Member 1 (CCSM 1), and Child Care Staff Member 2 (CCSM 2). CCSM 1 indicated that her class and the other four-year-old preschool were out on the playground on 3/22/2023. There were six child care staff members and twenty- four child care children. When they are outside, the child care staff members typically set up in zones to keep good supervision. There are two child care staff members in the back, two in the front and then two in the middle of the play space. CCSM 1 was one of the child care staff members that was closest to the tire swing where Child A and Child B were playing. Child B came up to CCSM 1 stating that Child A "touched my private." CCSM 1 left Child B with CCSM 2 to address Child A. She stated that initially Child A would not come off the tire swing to speak with her and then when she did come off, she stated, "I didn't do it." Then she said, "Well he 2 hit me." CCSM 1 spoke with Child A about how touching our friends in their privates is inappropriate. I asked CCSM 1 if there were any other incidents like this with Child A, she stated that earlier this year she punched another friend in the privates and then went to kiss him. Child A has also shown some anger and unpredictability in behaviors. The child care staff have been to implement an additional child care staff member in the class with her to help provide support when the behaviors increase and give her some 1:1 time when needed. Child A has been through traumas within her home and family life, so the intent of the child are staff members is to help her process through some of this trauma to make school a safe place for everyone in attendance. CCSM 1 asked for additional input for how she can better supervise Child A after discussing the concern from a licensing standpoint is making sure that all the children in the class are safe. Child A has inappropriately touched two child care children and staff need to evaluate if supervision of Child A can look like to keep everyone safe. I suggested shadowing and direct supervision of Child A during any sort of free play. I also suggested looking for any blind spots that can be in a classroom or playground. CCSM 2 stated that she did not see Child A touch Child B. She became aware when CCSM 1 asked her to care for Child B while she spoke to Child A. CCSM 2 asked Child B if he needed to talk about what happened. Child B just said "no," and ran away to play. CCSM 2 echoed the same supervision plan that CCSM 1 had given. Ms. Botbyl and I spoke about the safety plan in place with Child A. She stated that the have been able to have the school social worker start working with her and she is receiving play therapy outside of school. They have also implemented a third person in the classroom to help with some of Child A's emotional regulation. We discussed having active/direct supervision of Child A when she is around other children at length. With this being the second incident involving Child A inappropriately touching another student, I informed Ms. Botbyl that child care staff members need to be speaking with one another on who is directly supervising her. For example, on the playground, it is not enough to say that there were six adults with twenty-four children. A child care staff member should be identified as the person continuously shadowing Child A. In the incident on the tire swing, although there were two child care staff members near the tire swing, neither saw the incident occur. Direct supervision of a child with at risk behaviors would have someone watching the interactions with the children on the tire swing during the duration of time Child A is on it. After my initial onsi

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.

There is no evidence to support the allegation that staff do not provide appropriate care and supervision of children.

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 February 2, 2022, I received an incident report from the Licensee Designee, Ms. Jennifer Botbyl, at Shettler Elementary School indicating that after Child A's parent signed her out at the end of the school day, she returned into the building asking why she was not notified that her child injured her lip. It was stated that the child care staff members (CCSMs) did not notice any injury to Child 2 A. Child A stated she fell on the playground and did not tell the CCSMs she got hurt. Child A's Mother took her to urgent care where she received one stich on her bottom lip. I spoke with Child A's Mother regarding the incident report. She indicated that she picked her daughter up from school and when they got outside, she noticed her lip was injured. They went back into the school to inquire about the injury and to ask why she was not notified. She was told by the CCSMs that no one saw the injury up until she brought it to their attention. Child A said she did it on the playground and that she cried a little. The CCSMs did not notice any change in her behavior due to an injury. Child A's mother took her to urgent care where she received one stich. She was also kept out of school for a week until the stich was removed. Child A's mother was upset as she could not understand how the CCSMs went 8 hours and did not notice Child A's injured lip. She was able to provide me with photos of the injury. During the unannounced on-site, I interviewed CCSMs Ms. Andrea Bunker and Ms. Alison Johnson. Both stated that they did not notice the injury to Child A's lip during the school day. They did not see Child A fall or do anything that would result in an injury. She didn't display any sort of behavior that would warrant an injury. There was no blood noticed on her bedding at nap time or her clothes. While on the playground the CCSMs moved around supervising the children and did not notice Child A injuring herself while playing. When Child A and her mother returned into the school building to inquire about the injury, Child A was asked where she injured herself. Child A pointed to the hippo toy structure on the playground. The CCSMs went to look around the structure for any signs of blood, which they did not find. I made an attempt to forensically interview Child A. The interview was unsuccessful and did not provide any information for the investigation. I reviewed the three photographs that Child A's Mother submitted. Two photographs showed a cut that extended the width of Child's A bottom lip. The third photograph showed the one stich that Child A received at urgent care.