• Violation

  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 6/11/21, the program director Ms. Hirmaz called me and stated that Child A's mother called to say that on 6/9/21, Ms. Martinez pulled Child A's elbow, hurting her because Child A did not clean up in the play kitchen area. Child A's mother said that Child A did not want to cry. Ms. Hirmaz said that there are no cameras in the classrooms that record; therefore, she could not see what happened. Ms. Hirmaz said that she already spoke to both the staff members that were in the classroom with Child A on 6/9/21. Ms. Martinez denied that it happened, and Ms. Pagel did not see any such interaction between Child A and Ms. Martinez. On 6/14/21, I received the incident report stating that Child A's mother told her Mom that Ms. Martinez grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her hard and hurt her. She said she fell but didn't want to cry. Ms. Hirmaz spoke to Ms. Martinez and she said 2 that she picked Child A up under her armpits like you would pick up a child and took her over to the kitchen area to clean. Ms. Hirmaz talked to Ms. Pagel, and she said she didn't witness anything with Ms. Hirmaz touching Child A in any way. On 6/14/21, I interviewed Child A's mother who said that on 6/9/21, Child A told her that Ms. Martinez was not nice to her and Ms. Martinez pulled her elbow hard and hurt her. Child A's mother said that Child A demonstrated how it happened. Child A said that she was sitting on a chair in the play kitchen area. Ms. Martinez asked her to clean up the kitchen area. Child A said that she did not clean the kitchen area. Ms. Martinez came up to her, pulled her by her elbow hurting her. Child A said that she did not want to cry in front of Ms. Martinez. Child A's mother said that Child A was asking her if Ms. Martinez would be present in her room when she went the next school day. Child A's mother said that Child A seemed quite afraid to go to school. Child A's mother said that there were no marks of a bruise or injury on Child A. On 6/21/21, I completed an unannounced onsite inspection at the center. I interviewed the staff members present in the classroom at the time of the reported incident. On 6/21/21, Ms. Martinez said that when Ms. Hirmaz called her about the incident, she was shocked and could not recall any such incident. She said that on 6/9/21, she asked all the children to clean up and get ready for the next task. She told Child A multiple times to clean up, but Child A would only stare at her but would not move from her chair. Child A was sitting on a chair in the kitchen play area. Ms. Martinez said that she lifted Child A from her chair from under her arm pits, stood her up and asked her to clean the kitchen area. Ms. Martinez said that Child A did not cry, scream, or even say anything to her. Child A did not clean up or even respond. Ms. Martinez said that she was not her regular staff person in the classroom, but she had dealt with Child A previously in the young preschool classroom. She said that she has not had any problems with Child A. However, many times Child A does not respond to instructions. If Child A does not want to do something, she stares and does not do it. Ms. Martinez said that on the morning of 6/21/21, she was with Child A reading a story and they had very good interaction and Child A did not want to go with Ms. Pagel to her regular classroom. On 6/21/21, I interviewed Ms. Pagel who said that she did not see any interaction between Child A and Ms. Martinez on 6/21/21. Ms. Pagel said that Child A is in her classroom and Child A has the tendency to simply walk away or stare at you if she does not want to follow instructions. Ms. Pagel said that Child A was with Ms. Martinez for about an hour since the center closed for half day on 6/9/21. Ms. Pagel said that she had not seen Ms. Martinez being inappropriate with children at any time. On 6/21/21, I interviewed Ms. Hirmaz who said that she had interacted with Child A since she was 5 months old. Ms. Hirmaz said that Child A was different recently f

Ms. Martinez pulled Child A by the elbow hurting her because Child A did not clean up in the play kitchen area.

Disposition: Substantiated