A Center Grove area day care has been placed on probation for the second time in less than a year after a state inspection found that inappropriate discipline had been used on a child and the day care had not had enough supervision on site.
KinderCare Learning Center, 980 S. State Road 135, has been issued a probationary license from July 26 through Oct. 31.
The child care center notified the state after a parent raised concerns about a teacher’s interactions with a child in early July, a statement from KinderCare Learning Center said.
State workers investigated July 26 and found that a teacher had used inappropriate physical discipline on a child, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration spokesperson Marni Lemons said.
Child Protective Services investigated and said the claim was unfounded, but KinderCare fired the teacher, who had been on administrative leave during the investigation, KinderCare spokesperson Colleen Moran said.
“The safety of children in our care is the highest priority,” she said. “If we have a reason we haven’t met that high standard we take the steps necessary to correct the situation.”
Moran and Lemons both declined to provide further details about the inappropriate discipline, citing privacy concerns for the family of the child.
While the child care center is on probation, teachers will receive additional training on proper child guidance, Moran said.
The inspection also found that two preschool age boys had been hiding behind a bathroom door. The day care was cited for not having an appropriate child to staff ratio and for a lack of supervision.
“We take that seriously when children aren’t being supervised,” Lemons said.
The state agency will be working with KinderCare to correct the discipline and supervision issues, she said.
“We’ll work closely with state officials to retrain all of our teachers on proper child guidance,” the KinderCare statement said. “We’ll follow any recommendations licensing provides, as it’s also our goal to give every child in our center the safest, most nurturing learning environment possible. We’re confident that our teachers’ retraining will eliminate future mistakes.”
KinderCare is the second day care facility in Johnson County to be issued a probationary license by the state this year. Eight were put on probation in 2016.
Last year, KinderCare was put on probation after a worker used inappropriate discipline on a child. That teacher no longer works with KinderCare and the day care said at the time that it was going to retrain all teachers and staff on proper child guidance.
