Daycare closes with child locked inside

[nwgirl]

Daycare Building Closes With Baby Inside

By Associated Press

UPDATED 2 HOURS 14 MINUTES AGO
DALLAS - A woman arrived at her child's daycare center to find the building closed with her 14-month-old daughter locked inside alone, authorities said.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Dallas police are investigating how the girl was left alone for nearly two hours Tuesday night. She was asleep in a high chair and was not injured, according to state officials.

"I was so upset," said the girl's mother, Ashley Hunter. "I was never going to put my child in day care. She had only been there three weeks."

Hunter said she couldn't get past the gate blocking the driveway at L&S Early Childhood Learning Academy and called police. Rescue workers broke the door to get the girl, according to a police report.

Spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said Family and Protective Services, which licenses child-care centers, has not determined whether it will take action against the center.

Depending on the agency's findings, sanctions might include temporarily closing the center, revoking its permit or excluding the responsible caregivers from working with children there, she said.

Shirley Ray, the center's owner, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The police report said the owners told police the last person left the facility at 6 p.m. and did not realize the child was still there.

Dallas police Sgt. Brenda Nichols said Wednesday that police hadn't decided whether to file criminal charges.

"It appears that it was just a communication breakdown in that nobody realized that that child was still there," Nichols said.

At a different daycare business that operated in the same building, an 8-month-old boy died in 2003 from heat exposure after being left in a vehicle. The state closed that center. Gonzales said the center has new owners and operates under a different name.

L&S has been cited for six violations since February 2006, including record-keeping violations, using prohibited bumper pads and comforters in infants' cribs, and employing a caregiver without CPR or first-aid training.

One parent said the center's owners gave a good explanation for Tuesday night's mishap.

"That was just a big misunderstanding," said Joe Thomas, whose 3-year-old daughter attends the center. "These are good people, and that was an honest mistake."

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[McJag]

This is scary BUT every Mother in Dallas with a kid in daycare knows you'd better be there by 6pm. Why didn't she call or send someone?

[msdeb]

One parent said the center's owners gave a good explanation for Tuesday night's mishap.

there is NO good explanation. but McJag, you are right, EVERYONE knows there is a financial penalty if you are late. Funny how the article doesnt mention this part of it...

[Mira]

So, how could a person who is paid to watch children not know that there's a child left behind sitting in a high chair??

There are several important facts missing here, as usual with these types of stories.

[travelbug]

I'm confused. Was the mom two hours late? The article said the baby was left alone for 2 hours.

[McJag]

I'm confused. Was the mom two hours late? The article said the baby was left alone for 2 hours.

The Mom showed up after 7-almost 8 from what the TV said. The daycare was stupid -no doubt-but how dare the mom show up so late and not even call? I'm sorry-the daycare has many kids but YOU are the mother had better be much more on top of it-not just blame others!

[travelbug]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking...did the mom expect them to just sit there 2 hours after closing and wait for her?

But besides that, the daycare was stupid too...sounds like they just overlooked the fact that a baby was still there or they would've been calling the mom on her cell to come get her kid.

Thank goodness the baby is OK. That could've been a very unhappy ending.

[nwgirl]

The part that scares me most was that the kid was in a highchair. Who walked off an left the kid in a highchair in the first place? I could almost believe that it was an honest mistake if the kid was asleep in a crib, but a highchair? Seems there should be way more oversight of the children.

And yeah, the mom should have been there earlier. But that doesn't mean that your kid is left alone if you're late, even if you're a day late. What happens if she gets in an accident on the way there and can't tell anyone to check on her kid? They probably have procedures for that kind of thing. They don't apply here though because they flat out forgot about the kid.

But I also think the two hours could be due to something else, like maybe instead of breaking down the door right away they tried to contact someone or something. I don't know that I get she was two hours late just because the kid was left for two hours.

[sweetness]

That must've been so horrifying for the mom!

Reminds me of my little girl's first day of first grade-- I was waiting anxiously at the bus stop for her to get off (since it was her very first time riding the bus and all), and all the kids get off but my daughter.

Turned out they had put her on the wrong bus!! I've never been so close to having a heart attack in my life.

[travelbug]

That must've been so horrifying for the mom!

Reminds me of my little girl's first day of first grade-- I was waiting anxiously at the bus stop for her to get off (since it was her very first time riding the bus and all), and all the kids get off but my daughter.

Turned out they had put her on the wrong bus!! I've never been so close to having a heart attack in my life.

My son got off on the wrong stop the first day of Kindergarden! I was so panicked, but he was calmly walking with his friend down to our house.

[Algernon]

It is pretty mind-boggling that a daycare could forget about a child. I think I've told this story here before, but I 'found' a child that was left behind by his daycare at a public park when I went there with my son a few years ago. He was running around, all alone, with his nametag that had the name of the daycare on it (which was a few blocks away; they walked there frequently). It was clear he had special needs and he didn't talk well. I watched him for a good 5-10 minutes thinking maybe his parent was there and he just still had on his nametag from the day, but there was only one man sitting on a bench, and a mom hanging with her kids. I approached both adults and they said they noticed him and that he'd been there alone for quite awhile.

I felt really apprehensive about taking the matter into my own hands, but not having a cell phone with which to call the police, I walked him back to the daycare. The director was shocked and looked pretty miffed. I got some calls after that from CPS to get details and I always wondered what became of the workers who were responsible for leaving a special needs child at a public park for over 1/2 hour...never knowing he was missing.

[sweetness]

My son got off on the wrong stop the first day of Kindergarden! I was so panicked, but he was calmly walking with his friend down to our house.

OH it's terrifying isn't it?? Her bus stop is about 1/10 of a mile from our house, so I ran as fast as I could all the way home to call the school. I was FREAKED..... they had no idea where she was or what bus she was on. The 30 minute wait to track her down was excruciating. The driver of the bus she was on brought her back to the school so I could get her.

Around that same time a very young child in our area had also gotten on the wrong bus. He got off at the wrong stop in an unfamiliar area and was killed by a car.

Another bus driver wasn't aware that a little girl had fallen asleep and never got off at her stop. He parked the bus for the night and I don't think they found her until the next day.

*Sorry about all the bus stories, but it's scary as hell not to be able to find your child!

That daycare should be shut down!!