Trying to wrap my head around daycare incident

All 3 of my kids started at a daycare center in Aug 2011. It has been a rough transition, but my 5 yo seems to be doing well and I am happy with her class/teacher, etc... For some time, we have been going back and forth on pulling out the boys (2 yo) and have pretty much decided to do this. There are many reasons we are doing this. This week, I noticed both the teachers were not in the room. A letter was sent home that both were gone and they were holding an emergency meeting last night. My husband went. Apparantly, there has been tension between the 2 teachers and one of the teachers reported to administrator that the other teacher gave the kids diluted cold medicine back in October to sedate them. The accused denies it and she resigned and the one who reported it was fired. They won't tell us who is who and say it only happened one time. I am completely flabbergasted that this happened!!! And it is just now coming out too. We obviously are moving forward with taking them out after our 4 week written notice, but I had plans to keep my DD there. This is my first experience with a daycare center and it comes with great recommendations, local center, etc... I will need to put the boys in a home daycare of someone I have know for over 2 years. I am just so... turned off by any person watching my kids now. Seriously, what kind of person would work with children and try to sedate them!! (alleged anyways)... Should I pull my DD out too?? This is her last yr. before K and I haven't had any problem with her room.

 

I don't know. It seems it's more an issue with those specific teachers than the center, considering that they fired one of them over it.

 

I went through something similar last year, with CPS being called on an assault done by the director's daughter to my daughter. I actually left them in the home daycare because I was happy with the way that the fallout was handled, the director fired her daughter, booted her out of the house, and all because another teacher reported the incident to CPS. I did think hard about taking them out of the daycare, but waited until they were to start Pre-K.

Personally I would leave the older daughter there. And honestly, if both teachers are gone, I would leave the other two there, assuming that you are satisfied with the punishments/fines/firings that have and will occur. Has it been reported to CPS yet? It should be. You can probably check online with your state to see if there are any other violations for your center.

 

Last year we had an incident at our girls' preschool as well. The aide in the youngest classroom (ages 2 and 3) took the entire class to the playground, except for one two year old girl who was using the bathroom. Then, the teacher who remained in the room told the girl walk to the playground by herself (allegedly so the teacher could continue talking on her cell phone, but who knows). That meant the little girl had to walk out the front door, around the side of the building, and down a path to the playground - all unsupervised. The teacher never checked to see that the little girl got there. The principal looked out her window to see the little girl walking on top of a retaining wall at the front of the school property, about 5 feet from the road. When confronted, the teacher didn't take responsibility, saying that the girl knew to go straight there. It turns out that many teachers had kids walk to the playground by themselves and they'd never had a problem before.

This was an awesome preschool, rated #2 in my entire city. Everyone's confidence was shaken because this policy violated basic safety and common sense. But... I kept my kids there because the school's response was great. The teacher was fired, other teachers shifted around to cover the class, there was a parent meeting, etc. I thought they school handled it well and that the kids would be extra protected now that everyone was sort of on guard.

So, I agree with some of the previous posters. If you're happy with the school's response, you might want to think about leaving all of your kids there. Given your school's response it sounds like an unfounded accusation. If a teacher really did give kids cold medicine, she'd be the one fired... not the accuser. It sounds like the environment was hostile for both, and that may have contributed to your unhappiness even before this incident. Now that it's all out in the open, you KNOW that the principal is going to be extra vigilant in that classroom and that they'll hire better teachers. But if you do decide to remove your two year olds, keep your five year old there. She likes it, it's a good place for her. Last but not least for me... in a home daycare situation you may only have one adult supervising your kids. At least in a center, you've got two... so if something does happen, one teacher can report on the other. I know it's not what any of us would want to hear, but at least you did hear. That could have been covered up.

And yes, I'd ensure that CPS has been notified as well.

 

Make sure licensing is notified also.
If you are determined to move the younger two, do it. Nothing is going to change your mind on that. As for the oldest, leave her.
My center has had several incidents, none involving my kids. The director immediately fires the teacher and other staff know to report. I am comfortable with how incidents are handled and i believe they aren't the norm at our center.

 

I have never heard anything like that(I work in day care)! Goodness. I think something else must be up if the reportee got fired (maybe for not reporting it at the time?)

I agree with everyone else, make sure it has been reported to the licensing agency. If you feel comfortable with your daughter there, keep her there and if you still plan on pulling the boys, do it. It is your comfort level that is important here.

 

We are going to leave my daughter there and still take the boys out. I am working on a new schedule with my job and may only need care 1 day/week so financially it will work better for us. I guess, for me, I can't believe something like this would ever happen at a place that cares for children. I can't imagine why someone would want to do something like that??
The center said that the state was notified so I assume licensing was notified. They said they were changing their policies re: medication in the rooms too.

 

It sounds like you have come to a decision and I am in the minority, but I would start making plans to find a new daycare in the long run. I think the fact that this incident (either the actual incident, or the allegation) occured suggests that the teachers are not getting 1) enough supervision; and 2) enough support from supervisiors for what is probably a pretty stressful job. If the administration allowed a feud between teachers to get to that point, then they are not in touch with what is going on with their teachers. I think your kids are fine there for now, but this is a red flag that you might not want to ignore.