Premier Academy - Rochester Hills LLC

R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all t imes.

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all t imes.

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Handwashing (2) Program staff and volunteers shall ensure that children wash their hands at all of the following times: (a) Before and after meals, snacks, or food preparation experiences.

Children in the toddler room washed their hands before and after meals.

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Handwashing (2) Program staff and volunteers shall ensure that children wash their hands at all of the following times: (b) After toileting or diapering.

The staff members in the toddler rooms ensured that the children washed their hands after diapering.

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Diapering; toileting (8) Disposable gloves, if used for diapering, must only be used once for a specific child and be removed and disposed of in a safe and sanitary manner immediately after each diaper change.

During the interviews and observation on 5/11/26, staff members in the toddler rooms ensured that gloves were changed between diapering.

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Discipline (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

It was clear in the video that Teacher 1 moved Child A's hand away from Child B and did not smack Child A on the hand.

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R 400.8134(8) · R 400.8134(8) Sleeping Equipment. (8) Swaddling with a sleep sack swaddle attachment or swaddle wrap is allowed only for infants up to 2 months of age. If a child has a health issue or special need that requires the child use a swaddle attachment or swaddle wrap after the child is 2 months of age, documentation from the child's licensed health care provider is required. The documentation must include specific sleeping instructions and time frames for how long the child needs to sleep in this manner, including an end date.

On the video I saw that on 3/13/26, Teacher 2 swaddled Child D and put her back in the swing. Teacher 1 admitted that she had swaddled Child G to sleep since it was hard for Child G to sleep without it.

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R 400.8216(2)(b) · R 400.8216(2)(b) Orientation (2) Within 30 calendar days after being present at the center and before caring for children, program staff and unsupervised volunteers shall have training on all of the following, as applicable: (b) The prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and use of safe sleep practices, if the center serves infants and toddlers.

Lead Teacher 1 and Teacher 1 had safe sleep training on 2/15/26, but they worked in the infant room since December 2025. Teacher 2 and Teacher 3 did not have safe sleep training.

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R 400.8219(4) · R 400.8219(4) Sleeping, resting, and supervision (4) Infants shall be placed on their backs for resting and sleeping.

While watching the video for 3/13/26, I saw Teacher 3 put Child F into the crib on their tummy. Child F was eight months old at the time of the video.

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R 400.8219(11) · R 400.8219(11) Sleeping, resting, and supervision (11) Infants and toddlers who fall asleep in a space that is not approved for sleeping shall be moved to approved sleep equipment appropriate for their age and size.

On the video, I saw that Child E was sleeping in the swing from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Lead Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 confirmed this in their interviews.

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R 400.8266(3)(a) · R 400.8266(3)(a) Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting (3) A licensee, licensee designee, or program administrator 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: (a) An incident involving an allegation of inappropriate contact.

PA did not report the alleged incident of inappropriate contact between Teacher 1 and Child A to the department or Child A's Mother.

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R 400.8271(7) · R 400.8271(7) Child development program plan (7) If awake, use of confining equipment for infants must be minimized, not to exceed 30 minutes at a time.

On 3/13/26, I saw on the video one child in the swing for more than thirty minutes from 12:05 p.m. to 12:40 p.m. Child D was left in the swing from 11:27 a.m. to 1:17 p.m. Child D was removed from the swing at 12:03 p.m. for a few minutes.

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R 400.8330(21) · R 400.8330(21) Food services and nutrition generally (21) Bottle propping is prohibited.

I observed on the video that on 3/13/26, Child D was lying on the floor with a bottle propped with a pillow.

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R 400.8134(13) · R 400.8134(13) Sleeping Equipment. (13) Soft objects, bumper pads, stuffed toys, blankets, quilts, comforters, and other objects that could smother a child must not be placed in, or within reach of, a crib or portable crib with a resting or s leeping infant.

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R 400.8134(13) · R 400.8134(13) Sleeping Equipment. (13) Soft objects, bumper pads, stuffed toys, blankets, quilts, comforters, and other objects that could smother a child must not be placed in, or within reach of, a crib or portable crib with a resting or s leeping infant.

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all t imes.

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and s upervision of children at all times.

The video showed that Lead Teacher provided appropriate care and supervision when she monitored Child A by carrying him, sitting by him and tending to him throughout the time when he was injured.

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R 400.8176(5)(a) · R 400.8176(5)(a) Sleeping equipment. For all preschoolers 3 years of age and older in care for 5 or more continuous hours.

Three children in Montessori rooms were not provided either a blanket or a sheet for nap time.

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R 400.8131(12) · R 400.8131(12) Professional development requirements. When the department of licensing and regulatory affairs or the department of education publishes a notice that a new health and safety update document or a new health and safety update training activity has been published on MiRegistry, the licensee shall ensure that all personnel read and acknowledge the document or complete the activity within 6 months of the notice.

CONCLUSION: REQUIREMENT NOT MET CORRECTIVE ACTION Administration will closely monitor staff professional development to PLAN: ensure that it is completed on time. We have also given the 3 staff members additional PD to make up for the one they missed. 2 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP DATE COMPLIANCE 2/7/25 WILL BE ACHIEVED BY: Rule/Statutory Violations

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R 400.8176(12) · R 400.8176(12) Sleeping equipment. A tightly fitted bottom sheet must cover the crib or porta-crib mattress with no additional padding placed between the sheet and mattress.

Some cribs in the infant room and the mobiles room did not have tightly fitted sheets. The sheets were bunching up during inspection.

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R 400.8134(2)(j) · R 400.8134(2)(j) Hand washing. When soiled. Bureau

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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 4/13/23, I received a voicemail message from the program director Ms. Isley stating that Child A (3- year- old female) was left behind on the playground while the other children from the classroom went inside to their classroom. Child A was left unattended on the playground. Ms. Isley said that she would be sending the incident report later in the day. On 4/14/23, I received the incident report stating that Montessori room 3 was outside for their morning recess. When it was time to line up and go back inside, Child A went back to the play structure and climbed into the tunnel. CCSM 1 approached her and told her that it was time to line up. CCSM 1 and CCSM 2 continued to get the 3 children to line up and did not do a head count as they walked into the building. CCSM 3 saw Child A on the playground and realized that Child A was alone. CCSM 3 brought Child A back into the building and took her to her classroom. After checking the cameras, they realized that Child A was left alone on the playground for five minutes. Child A continued to play on the playground and did not seem upset. On 4/17/23, I conducted an unannounced, onsite inspection at the center. I reviewed the attendance records at the time of the incident. There were 17 children with 2 staff members, CCSM 1 and CCSM 2. I watched the video of the incident. There was no audio on the recording. I observed the following events on the video: On 4/13/23, at around noon, the Montessori class 3 children went out to the playground. At about 12:10 p.m., while CCSM 1 and CCSM 2 were gathering the children to go inside, Child A went in the tunnel of the play structure and sat inside. CCSM 1 saw this and went up to Child A and told her to get off the play structure. Child A jumped out of there and joined the line. As the children were lining up, Child A went back into the play structure and sat in the tunnel again. This went unnoticed by both CCSM 1 and CCSM 2. At 12:12 p.m., the class started to go inside leaving Child A sitting in the tunnel. From 12:12 p.m. to 12:17 p.m., Child A came out of the tunnel, walked around to find her classmates, tried to open the door to get inside a couple of times and wandered on the playground. At 12:17 p.m. CCSM 3 drove into the parking lot. CCSM 3 went into the playground and accompanied Child A into the building. Child A did not appear to be crying or in any distress. The playground has a play structure and is fenced on all sides. The center's parking lot is around the fenced area. There is a gate to go outside to the parking lot and a door to get into the building. On 4/17/23, I interviewed the licensee designee Ms. Silkwood and program director, Ms. Isley about the incident. They stated that they were shocked at what had occurred because they had provided training to all the staff members regarding face to name counting of all the children at transitions. They said that they had addressed in their staff meetings about the importance of counting the children at transitions. They said that consequently CCSM 1's and CCSM 2's employment was terminated. Ms. Silkwood said that parents were notified about the incident immediately and Child A continues to be enrolled at the center. Ms. Silkwood said that as soon as she came to know about the incident, she called CCSM 1 in the classroom and told her that she had left Child A behind on the playground and CCSM 3 is bringing Child A upstairs to the classroom. The staff members had not realized that they had left Child A behind on the playground. CCSM 1 was very concerned about the child and asked if Child A was okay. CCSM 1 sounded very upset at herself for not counting before coming into the classroom. 4 At the end of the day, when she let go of CCSM 2, she was also very apologetic and said that she had not counted the children and did not know how many were there. On 4/17/23, I interviewed CCSM 3 who said that she came back after her lunch break at around noon. As she was driving in, she saw a child r

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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 5/24/23, I received a voicemail message from the licensee designee, Ms. Scott stating that Child B (5-year-old female) was left alone in the classroom for 20 minutes while the rest of the classroom went out for outdoor recess. Ms. Scott said that she would send the incident report. On 5/25/23, I received the signed incident report that said that Child B was in the bathroom while CCMS 4 and CCSM 5 were lining up the children in Montessori 3 room to go outside. The staff members did not check the bathroom before they went outside. Child B came out of the bathroom to see the classroom empty. She looked out in the hallway and did not see the children. Child B went inside into the classroom and started playing. Child B went to look in the hallway a couple of times while she waited for her class to come back. Staff members returned to the classroom after 20 minutes. When CCSM 6 came back from her break, Child B told her what had happened. Administration called Child B's parents to inform them about the situation and terminated employment for CCSM 4 and CCSM 5 that were in the classroom at the time. On 5/25/23, I interviewed Ms. Scott who said that she was in the front office on 5/24/23 when she received a phone call from CCSM 6 from the Montessori 3 classroom stating that Child B told her that she was left alone in the classroom for a long time when her friends went outside to play. CCSM 6 said that she did not hear this from CCSM 4 or CCSM 5 when she came back from her break. CCSM 6 said that Child B was doing fine, and all the children started talking about it after CCSM 5 left the room for her break. On 5/25/23, I interviewed Child B's parents. Child B's father said that he received the call from Ms. Silkwood at about 2 p.m. stating that Child B was left alone in the classroom for 20 minutes. Child B's father made sure that she was okay and stated that the main problem they have in the classroom is the inconsistency of staff members in the room. He said that CCSM 5 was the only consistent staff member in the classroom, but she has no support from other staff members since everyday there is a new staff member in the classroom. He said that CCSM 5 was promoted to a lead caregiver, but he was not sure if she was qualified to be in the classroom, but she was good. On 5/25/23, Child B's mother said that Child B told her that she was left alone in the classroom and that she cried because she got scared. Child B said she went into the bathroom to change before going outside because she was hot. Child B asked one of the staff members to get her the pants to change and she went into the bathroom to change. Child B did not mention any specific name of the staff member that told her to change. Child B's mother said that if a staff member told her to change, the staff member knew that Child B was in the bathroom, and she still forgot and left Child B in the bathroom. Child B said that she felt that she was stuck in the classroom since she followed the rules and did not go outside the classroom without an adult. Child B's mother said that Child B is still emotional about the incident and went red in her face when a child walked up to her the next day at drop off and told her how Child B was left in the classroom. Child B's mother said that she was surprised that the front office staff who monitors the cameras did not notice that a child was alone in the classroom for 20 minutes. Child B's mother said that she saw Ms. Silkwood the following morning at drop off and she did not talk about the incident to her in person. On 5/25/23, I interviewed CCSM 4 who said that she was a floater and has been working at the center for a week. CCSM 4 said that on 5/24/23, she came to Montessori 3 classroom at about 10:30 a.m. She never counted the number of children in the classroom. CCSM 6 left for her break at 11:10 a.m. and they went outside to play at 11:40 a.m. CCSM 4 said that she was told later that Child B was in the bathroom to change before going

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R 400.8122 · R 400.8122 Lead caregiver; qualifications; responsibilities. (5) Lead Caregiver Qualifications m Education Coursework in Early Childhood Education, Child Development, or a Child-Related Field Hours of Experience (a) Bachelor's degree or higher in early childhood education, child development, or a childrelated field (b) Montessori credential with 480 hours (c) Associate's degree or higher in early childhood education or child development (d) Valid child development associate credential with 480 hours (e) High school diploma or GED with 12 semester hours and 960 hours (f) High school diploma or GED with 12 semester hours, 18 CEUs, or a combination to equal 180 clock hours with 1,920 hours (g) High school diploma or GED with 6 semester hours, 9 CEUs, or a combination to equal 90 clock hours with 3,840 hours.

The lead caregiver in Montessori room 3 has a bachelor's degree in social work and meets the qualification requirements to be a lead caregiver. ..................................................... ..................................................................................... .........................

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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.

The center staff did not provide appropriate care and supervision of Child A when the staff in the preschool room left Child A unattended in the stairwell for approximately 3 minutes.

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R 400.8158 · ........... ................................................................................................................................................................................................................._ I R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (2) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall report to the child's Child C's mother and the department, directly or via phone, fax, or email, within 24 hours of the occurrence of any of the following: (a) A child is lost or left unsupervised.

The licensee, licensee designee or the program director did not contact the department about Child A being left unsupervised in the stairwell within 24 hours.

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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.

The staff members provided appropriate care and supervision to the children and did not scream in front of the children. I

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: Age Child Care Staff Maximum Group Size member to Child Ratio a) Infants and toddlers 1 to 4 Birth until 30 months of age

On 10/6/22, 1 received a complaint that the classrooms at the center were out of ratio. There was no further information on the dates, times or the classrooms since the complainant did not provide any contact details. On 10/12/22, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection at the center. I checked all the classrooms and the ratios for staff members to children were as follows: Infant room 8 infants 3 staff members. Toddler 1 7 children 2 staff members. Mobile ones 9 children 3 staff members. Toddler 2 11 children 3 staff members. Young preschool 7 children 3 staff members. Preschool 14 children 3 staff members. Young 5's 4 children 1 staff member. Pre- K 10 children 2 staff members. Montessori 1 20 children 2 staff members. Montessori 2 16 children 2 staff members. Montessori 3 15 children 2 staff members. All the rooms above were in ratio. On 10/12/22, I interviewed licensee designee Ms. Silkwood and the program director, Ms. Isley, separately, and they stated that they work hard to maintain ratios in the classrooms and the classrooms have never been out of ratio. They said that the staff are good about letting them know as soon as they need an additional staff member, and they are able to meet the need. Ms. Silkwood said that they had hired many staff members recently and are able to stay within the ratios. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Ragland from the preschool room, who said that she had worked at the center for a month every day, and she has never seen the preschool room or the Montessori rooms out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Hewitt, lead caregiver in the young preschool room, who said that she had worked at the center for a year and has never seen her room out of ratio. She said that before she started at the center she was also doing her observation in the other rooms for her CDA, and she never saw any of those rooms out of ratio at any time. 3 On 10/12/22, I interviewed the infant room lead caregiver, Ms. Hennigan who said that she had worked in the infant room for two years and she had not seen her room out of ratio at any time. She said that she was not aware of any other rooms being out of ratio. On 10/12/22, I interviewed the toddler 1 lead caregiver, Ms. Flye who said that she has worked in the room for over a year and she has never seen her room out of ratio. She said that she did not know about the other classrooms. On 10/12/22, I interviewed floater, Ms. Babbie who said that she has worked at the center for about 3 months, and she has not seen any room out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Vogelezang from the young 5's room who said that she has worked at the center for about two years and she has not seen her room out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. DePalma, lead caregiver in the Toddler 2 classroom who said that she had worked at the center for over two years, and she has never seen her room out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed lead caregiver, Ms. Barr from the Montessori 2 classroom who said that she has worked in the room for two years and she has not seen her room out of ratio at any time. She said that she has also seen the other Montessori rooms that are always in ratio. Ms. Barr said that she and the administration are very good about maintaining ratios and would always strive for the same. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Kelly, lead caregiver in the pre-K room who said that she had worked in her room for 2 years and has never seen the room out of ratio. She said that she was not aware of the other rooms. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Kropchak, floater at the center who said that she has worked here for about five months and has never seen any room out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Campbell, floater at the center who said that she has worked at the center for a year and has not seen the rooms out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Spencer, who said that she has worked at the cent

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: Age Child Care Staff Maximum Group Size member to Child Ratio b)Preschoolers, 30 months 1 to 8 16 of age until 3 years of age

The review of staff to student ratio attendance records for 2.5 years to 3 years of age children on 9/26/22, 9/27/22, 9/28/22, 10/5/22 and 10/6/22, indicated compliance with the ratio requirements. During my unannounced inspection at the center all the classrooms followed the ratio requirements.

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R 400.8143 · R 400.8143 Children's records. (11) A center shall maintain an accurate record of daily attendance at the center that includes each child's first and last name and each child's arrival and departure time....

On 10/6/22, I received a complaint stating that a staff member pulled on a child but the administration did not take any action. There were no details regarding the incident since there was no contact details of the complainant. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Silkwood and Ms. Isley who denied any knowledge of a staff member pulling on a child. They said that they had not heard any complaints from any of the staff members about this and they have not seen any staff member pulling a child. On 10/12/22 I interviewed Ms. Rogaland, Ms. Hewitt, Ms. Hennigan, Ms. Flye, Ms. Babbie, Ms. Vegelezang, Ms. DePalma, Ms. Barr, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Kropchak, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Spencer, Ms. Schad, Ms. Puzio, Ms. Leo, and Ms.Hutchinson. All of the staff members deny seeing or hearing any staff member pull a child or use any inappropriate discipline with the children.

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R 400.8173 · .................................................................................... ................................_......... R 400.8173 Equipment. ................................................... ....................................................................... ..................................................................... (4) Play equipment, materials, and furniture, must be all of the following: (b) Safe, clean, and in good repair. z I

On 10/6/22, I received a complaint stating that children are running inside alone to use the bathroom. There was no further information since there was no contact details available for the complainant. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Silkwood and Ms. Isley who said that children are never allowed to come inside by themselves to use the bathroom. The staff members call for either Ms. Isley or Ms. Silkwood to come out and get the children to use the bathroom when they are in the outdoor play area. Both of them denied seeing any child come inside by themselves to use the bathroom. On 10/12/22, Ms. Ragland stated that sometimes if the children are able to wait, she brings them inside all together at the regular time. Otherwise, she brings only 10 children inside to go to the bathroom. Ms. Ragland said that she has never let the children come inside by themselves and go to the bathroom. Sometimes she has decided to come inside sooner than the scheduled time to accommodate children using the bathroom. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Hewitt who said that she takes her 4 children from the group inside to go to the bathroom or she takes all the children earlier than the scheduled time to accommodate the children using the bathroom. She said that she has never let the children go inside by themselves to use the bathroom. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Hennigan, Ms. Flye, Ms. Babbie, Ms. DePalma, and Ms. Spencer who stated that they work in the infant/toddler rooms and do not send the children by themselves inside for the bathroom. Their diapers are changed by the staff members. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Vogelezang, Ms. Barr, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Kropchak, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Schad, Ms. Puzio, Ms. Leo and Ms. Hutchinson that work in the pre-k room and Montessori rooms. They all said that when a child needs to go to the bathroom during outdoor recess, one of the staff members stays at the door of the gym and lets the child go into the bathroom in the gym with the door open. The staff members said that they have a line of sight to the children. The staff members said that they allow only one child to go to the bathroom at one time. When they stand at the door, they are able to see the child in the bathroom and the children playing in the outdoor play area. The bathroom has one toilet and one sink and is kept open. If there is a "potty accident" and the child needs to be changed, they call for help in the front desk. On 10/12/22, during my inspection, I observed the gym and door with the access to the outdoor play area. The gym door leading to the outdoor play area is about 15 ft to 18 ft. to the bathroom door inside the gym and staff members can maintain a line of sight by standing at the door of the gym. 11

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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 10/6/22, I received a complaint stating that when children are napping in the Gym during naptime, the room is out of ratio. There were no further details available since there is no contact information for the complainant. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Silkwood and Ms. Isley who stated that the three Montessori rooms go to the gym to nap. This is because a lot of the children in these classrooms do not nap in the afternoon. They are engaged in activities in their own rooms while the other children who do nap go for nap in the gym. All the other classrooms stay in their own room for nap time. The young 5's and the pre-k rooms rarely nap, but they are provided an opportunity for DEAR time (Drop Everything And Rest) in their own rooms. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Barr, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Schad, Ms. Puzio, Ms. Leo and Ms. Hutchinson who stated that they were in the gym during nap time several times and they had never seen the room out of ratio at any time. On 10/12/22, I observed the gym during nap time. There were 20 children in the room with 3 staff members.

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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.

13 On 10/6/22, I received a complaint stating that the staff members are mostly on their phones instead of watching the children. No details about any incidents were available since there was no contact information for the complainant. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Silkwood who said that the staff members use tablets to make entries on the tablet. They pull out their phones sometimes during nap time. Ms. Silkwood has told specific staff members not to use their phones while in the classroom and she has not seen that happening much. She said that she also addresses this in every staff meeting to make sure that they are aware of it. Sometimes new staff members are not aware of the policy, and she reiterates this for them. Ms. Silkwood said that there has not been an issue of lack of supervision because of phone usage as far as she is aware. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Isley who said that all employees are aware of the cell phone use policy that states that they are not supposed to use their phones while they are with the children. Staff members use a tablet to make entries on the Pro-care system. Ms. Isley said that whenever she has seen that happening, she had told the employees not to do that and it has not happened again. The problem is mostly with the new employees that do not know the rule even though it is provided to them during orientation. On 10/12/22, Ms. Ragland stated that she has not seen any of the staff members using their personal cell phones. She and her assistants use their phones for pictures and daily reports and later update them on the tablet to make entries on the Pro Care system. Ms. Ragland said that she has worked in other Montessori rooms, and she has not seen anybody using personal cell phones. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Hewitt who said that she has seen some staff members use their cell phones to glance at their messages quickly, usually after a diaper change. She said that she has taken pictures of the children on her personal phone and later uploaded them later to the Pro care system. She said that she was not sure sometimes what the staff members are doing with their phones. However, she has not seen any compromised supervision because of the cell phone usage. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Flye, Ms. Hennigan, Ms. Babbie, Ms. Vogelezang, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Kropchak, Ms. Puzio, Ms. Leo and Ms. Hutchinson. They stated that they have never used their personal cell phones while they are around children, and they have not seen other staff members do that in their classrooms. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. DePalma who said that she has seen staff members that come to her room and use personal cell phones. Ms. DePalma said that she has told them not to use any cell phones. She said that she has not had a problem dealing with this issue in her room. She has heard from other staff members at staff meetings about some staff members using their cell phones. She said that it was important for the lead caregiver to speak up and address this with the staff members in their rooms. 14 On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Barr who said that she has seen staff members in her classroom use their personal cell phone sometimes and she tells them not to do it and they follow her instructions. It has not been an issue for her. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Campbell who said that some staff members quickly glance at their messages when the children are in free choice activities. She has not seen them do it for extended periods of time but only a quick glance. Ms. Campbell said that she has done it herself sometimes to quickly glance at the messages on the phone during nap time or meal- times but never to the extent that she compromised supervision of the children. Ms. Campbell said that she was not comfortable sharing anybody's names at this time. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Spencer who said that use of personal cell phones in the classrooms was a major issue in September 2021. The management addressed it with all the

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. .................................................. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: 12 Age Child Care Staff Maximum Group Size member to Child Ratio b)Preschoolers, 30 months 1 to 8 16 of age until 3 years of age

On 10/6/22, I received a complaint stating that a member of the administration came into the classroom and screamed at a staff member in front of the children. I could not get any further details since there was no contact information available for the complainant. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Silkwood who said that on 10/4/22, there was an incident where one of the members of the administrative team, Ms. Rochelle Scott had to go into a preschool room and talk to a staff member about an issue. Ms. Silkwood was not present at the center at the time of the incident. She said that at the time of the incident, there were three staff members in the room: Ms. Monica Chapman, Holly Griffis and Kayla Ragland. Ms. Chapman was the toddler classroom lead caregiver who wanted to become a preschool lead caregiver. This was approved and Ms. Chapman was moved into the preschool room along with her assistant, Ms. Griffis about two weeks prior. Ms. Chapman indicated that she was struggling with the classroom since most of them were in diapers, even though it is a preschool room. Ms. Silkwood explained to her that toilet training was a part of this classroom since most of them are young 3's and some of them are between 33 months and 36 months of age with parental permission waivers. Ms. Chapman found this very challenging to handle since there was a lot of time spent in diapering. Ms. Chapman requested for a third person to be in the room, at least in the mornings, so that diapering was easier with a room at full capacity of children. The management team agreed and provided a third person in the mornings. On 10/3/22 the third person had to be pulled out of the classroom since there was a person needed in another room to meet the ratio requirement. Ms. Chapman was very upset and said that she wanted to quit. She started to take things out of the classroom, from the walls and the buckets to take them home since they were her belongings. Ms. Silkwood told her not to do it during class hours when children were around. Ms. Silkwood does not have any personal knowledge of what happened the next day. On 10/12/22, I interviewed Ms. Scott who said that when she was watching the cameras at about 9 am, she saw both Ms. Chapman and Ms. Griffis pulling the stuff off the walls and not working with the children. It was Ms. Ragland who was working with all the children on the carpet. When she had heard about this the previous day from Ms. Silkwood, she had spoken to Ms. Chapman personally and told her not to do that during class time. Ms. Scott had told her to move all the stuff when children were not in the classroom. When she saw the same thing happening again the next morning, she decided to stop them. She walked up to the classroom and told Ms. Chapman to stop pulling stuff off the walls and interact with the children. She told them that she wanted Ms. Chapman and Ms. Griffis to help Ms. Ragland with the 16 children. Ms. Scott said that she was upset, and she was across the room when she told them not to remove the items from the walls, but she never yelled at the staff members. She said that she was there for a very short period of time and did not notice what the children were doing at the time. Ms. Scott said that Ms. Chapman started to argue stating that she was good at interacting with the children and seemed angry about it. Ms. Scott walked out of the classroom after that. Ms. Scott said that when she saw them earlier on the video, they were at circle time when only Ms. Ragland was interacting with the children while the other two staff members were busy pulling all the items from the walls. Later when she was not in the building, she came to know that at about noon, both Ms. Chapman and Ms. Griffis had walked out of the building stating that they were not returning. On 10/12/22, I watched the video of the incident that occurred on 10/4/22. There was no audio. At about 9:21 am, Ms. Scott went into the preschool room, walked up to Ms. Chapman and to

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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.

The staff members provided appropriate care and supervision to the children. Staff do use their cell phones, but only to check messages and not for extended periods of time while around children.

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R 400.8170 · R 400.8170 1 Outdoor play area. (8) The outdoor play area must be protected from hazards, when necessary, by a fence or natural barrier that is at least 48 inches in height.

On 7/27/22, I received a complaint stating that children at the center play in the grassy area on the side of the building. This is close to Adams Road which is a busy main road and there are potentially multiple accidents on the road. There is no fence or barrier to section off the area for the children; only orange cones are used. More information could not be obtained since there is no contact information for the complainant. 2 On 8/1/22, I conducted an onsite inspection at the center. Children between the ages of 3 years and school age play in the grassy area every Wednesday only for water play during the summer. The hose is in this part of the building facilitating water play. This area was not approved for outdoor play. There is an outdoor play area on the other side of the building with play structures used by all age groups. This is approved for outdoor play and is not by the main road. The grassy area is rectangular in shape. One side of the area is lined by the building, the second side is bordered by the sidewalk on Adams Road, the third side is bordered by the sidewalk on Tienken Road, and the fourth side is bordered by the driveway at the center. The grassy area is approximately 60-70 ft long (from the building to the sidewalk on Tienken Road) and 30 ft wide (from the driveway of the center to the sidewalk on Adams Road). There is a patch of grass about 10-15 ft from the sidewalk to the main road on Adams Road. There is no fence or barrier on any of the sides. Ms. Amanda Isley is the program director and the licensee designee at the center but was not available for interview. On 8/1/22, I interviewed the licensee designee, Ms. Silkwood, who stated that one classroom at a time goes into the grassy area for water play on Wednesdays for approximately one- half hour. Only children between 3 years old through school age play there, and the maximum number of children at a time is 13 children. Ms. Silkwood said that she has one staff member for every 3 children when children are playing in the area. Ms. Silkwood said that she had hired several staff members for this specific reason over the summer. Ms. Silkwood stated that not all children play in the water all the time. Some children sit by the building and do other activities since they don't want to get wet. They use red cones to let the children know that they cannot cross the boundary. Ms. Silkwood said that they have never had any problems with children running out of the boundaries since there are so many staff members on the grassy area supervising the children. On 8/1/22 I interviewed preschool lead caregiver Ms. Hewitt who said that she has seen water play every Wednesday since June 2022. She said that apart from the two staff members in the classroom, there are 4-5 other staff members when they are outside near the water area, depending on the number of children present. Ms. Hewitt said that she had 22 children come outside for water play once, but there were about 7-8 staff members present to watch the children. Not all children play in the water with the fountain hose. School agers mostly play with water balloons. Ms. Hewitt said that they have chalk for the children to play on the cement area close to the building. Ms. Hewitt said that there are several orange cones set out to set the boundary for the children. Ms. Hewitt said that they have never had issues with 3 children crossing the border. Moreover, all the staff members make a human barrier around the cones to make sure that children stay inside. On 8/1/22 I interviewed Ms. Kropchak and Ms. Dickey who are floaters and had worked in the waterplay area for children. They said that children usually engage in the water play for about 20 minutes. They said that there are 2 staff members with every classroom that come out and there are additional 3 to 4 staff members that are present. They said that they have red cones to border the area, and all the staff members stand around the cones to make a barrier. T

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R 400.8182 · ................ R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. ......................................... ....... ........ ..... (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: (b) Preschoolers, 3 years of age until 4 years of age with child care staff member to child ratio of 1 to 10 with no maximum group size.

On 5/10/21, the department received a complaint stating that the Montessori rooms were out of ratio most of the time. Complainant A said that he/she was not aware of the dates or times when the rooms were out of ratio. Complainant A said that on a certain day there were 17 children with one staff member in one of the Montessori rooms. This was occurring at least 3 to 4 times a week, especially for the last 2 or 3 weeks. On 5/11/21, I conducted an unannounced, onsite inspection at the center. It was naptime and the ratios were as follows in the 3 Montessori rooms: Montessori 1: 9 children to 1 staff member. Montessori 2: 17 children to 2 staff members. Montessori 3: 19 children to 2 staff members. The ages of the children in the Montessori rooms were 3 years to 5 years. All the 3 rooms were in ratio. On 5/11/21, I interviewed the program director Ms. D'Epifanio who stated that she was not aware of the rooms being out of ratio. She said that it was probably in the morning hours when all the Montessori rooms, the pre-k room and the young 5's rooms combine. She said that at the time of transition when the children break out to their own rooms, there could have been too many children in one room for a short period of time. She said that she always makes sure that the ratios are maintained. Ms. D'Epifanio said that they had a lead caregiver in Montessori room 2 that takes a break for breast feeding her baby and she had gone upstairs to relieve her. She was not sure if the staff members did that without asking her to fill in for her. 3 On 5/11/21, I interviewed the lead caregiver in the Montessori 1 classroom, Ms. McCauley, who said that the ratios are off mostly in the mornings when children are coming in and they have a combined room in Montessori 1 room. She said that it is usually for about 5 or 10 minutes when all the children are in one room and getting ready to be separated into different rooms. She said that it happens sometimes when the staff members are late coming in. This has occurred more in the past 2 weeks since many of the staff members are either quarantining or not coming back to work. Ms. McCauley said that they have been short staffed for the past 2 weeks. Ms. McCauley said that she had seen Ms. LeFevre with 17 children all by herself, and she was not sure of the day or the date. Ms. McCauley said that it was right after they split up into different rooms. She said that it was for about half hour until another staff member came in to make up for the ratio. On 5/11/21, I interviewed Ms. Kelly who said that she had worked at the center for about a year, and she had not seen the rooms out of ratio at all. However, in the past two weeks the ratio has been an issue especially in the morning when the Montessori rooms are combined. She said that they were out of ratio for 5 to 10 minutes until they split into separate rooms. Ms. Kelly said that on that morning (5/11/21), she had 14 children by herself from 9 am to 9:20 am. She said that Ms. Hulett came in at 9:20 am. Ms. Kelly said that she had never seen anybody having 17 children by themselves at any time. Ms. Kelly said that on a certain day, (she did not remember the day or date) there were 22 children in the Montessori combined class in the morning with only two staff members; Ms. Korzecki was the other staff member. On 6/23/21, I reviewed the student and staff attendance records for the Montessori room where Ms. Kelly was present. Due to inaccurate attendance for the children and staff member, Ms. McCauley, I could not determine the ratios. On 5/11/21, I interviewed Ms. Korzecki who said that she recalled a day when they had 22 children with only 2 staff members for about 15 minutes. Ms. Korzecki could not recall the day or time since the combined room in the morning has been out of ratio several days, especially in the last few weeks. Ms. Korzecki said that once they split into different classrooms, ratio is not an issue in her young 5's classroom. Ms. Korzecki sa

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R 400.8182 · 1 R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (7) If there are children of mixed ages in the same room or well- defined space, then the ratio and group size is determined by the age of the youngest child, unless each group of children is clearly separated and the appropriate child care staff member-to-child ratios and group sizes, if applicable, for each group are maintained.

On 5/14/21, the department received a complaint stating that the infant room was out of ratio on a Wednesday about 2 weeks ago. The room was over ratio for about 2 hours. It was a day when Ms. Regan Beitel was out on vacation. Ms. Griffin was also aware of this situation. Complainant A did not know of a specific date. On 6/23/21, I interviewed the infant lead caregiver, Ms. Hennigan. She said that she had worked in the infant room since August 2020. Ms. Hennigan said that they were in ratio all the time except a few weeks ago when they had 9 children with two staff members including herself. She said that Ms. Tremkamp worked with her that day. Ms. Hennigan did not know of a day or date of this incident. 10 On 6/23/21, I interviewed Ms. D'Epifanio who said that on 4/28/21, Ms. Beitel was on vacation and Ms. Tremkamp worked in the infant room. She said that according to attendance records there were only 6 infants present on that day. On 6/25/21, I interviewed Ms. Tremkamp who said that she worked in the infant room from March 2021 through May 2021. She said that there was a day in April (was not sure about the date) when the infant room had 9 or 10 children with 2 staff members including herself. The other staff member was Ms. Hennigan. She said that they were over ratio for about 2 hours or even more. Ms. Tremkamp said that she notified the front desk and they sent Ms. Griffin to relieve them. Ms. Tremkamp said that none of them could be relieved since they would be out of ratio. She said that they came to know that they were short staffed that day. On 6/25/21, I interviewed Ms. Griffin who said that one of the days in April she had to step into the infant room to give breaks to the staff members there. The staff members were Ms. Tremkamp and Ms. Hennigan. When she went in, she realized that they were out of ratio with 9 children. The staff members informed her that they had been out of ratio for about an hour already. On 6/23/21, I reviewed the children's attendance records with the staff records for 4/28/21 since it was a Wednesday and Ms. Beitel was on vacation (as per the allegation). There were only 6 infants present with Ms. Hennigan and Ms. Tremkamp.

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R 400.8167 · 1 R 400.8167 Indoor Space. (1) The required square footage of indoor space per child must be at least the following: (b) Thirty-five square feet for preschoolers and school-agers.

On 5/14/21, the department received a complaint stating that Ms. Glass was not qualified to be a lead caregiver. Complainant A2 stated that Ms. Glass continues to manage the Montessori 3 classroom as a lead caregiver. On 6/23/21, I reviewed the educational records for Ms. Glass. There is no documentation to support that Ms. Glass is qualified to be a lead caregiver in the Montessori classroom. On 6/23/21, Ms. D'Epifanio said that Ms. Glass was hired in August of 2020 and was an assistant caregiver in the Montessori room. In March of 2021, Ms. Glass was promoted to be a lead caregiver when the new Montessori room 3 was opened. Ms. D'Epifanio said that she was aware that Ms. Glass completed some of the course work in American Montessori Society but was not sure if she had the credential. Ms. D'Epifanio said that Ms. Glass does not currently work for the center and there is a new lead caregiver in place in the Montessori room 3.

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R 400.8143 · R 400.8143 Children's records. (11) A center shall maintain an accurate record of daily attendance at the center that includes each child's first and last name and each child's arrival and departure times... z

The center did not maintain accurate record of daily attendance. For many children, if parents did not sign their children out, a staff member would sign them out at the end of the day irrespective of the actual time when the child was picked up. The staff and child ratio could not be determined on 5/4/21 and 5/5/21 due to inaccurate attendance.

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R 400.8110 · R 400.8110 Applicant; licensee; licensee designee; requirements. (6) The licensee or licensee designee shall maintain accurate records detailing daily arrival and departure times for each child care staff member, child care aide and volunteer. ..................................................... ..........................................

The licensee designee did not maintain arrival and departure times for the staff members, Ms. McCauley, Ms. D'Epifanio and Ms. Sheena Jaskowiak.

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: Infants and toddlers, birth until 30 months of age with child care staff member to child ratio of 1 to 4 with maximum group size of 12.

Ms. Hennigan, Ms. Tremkamp and Ms. Griffin stated that they were out of ratio in the infant room on an unknown date for about an hour or two with 9 children to 2 staff members. ...................... ..... ..................................................................................................................

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..........................................giver; 1 400.8122 Lead caregiver; qualifications; respoonnssiibbiilliittiieess (5) Lead caregivers shall meet 1 of the following qualifications shown in table 3.

Ms. Glass was the lead caregiver from March 2021 through May 2021 in Montessori room 3 and did not have documentation to support qualifications of a lead caregiver.

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