Police Break Into Locked Daycare to Rescue Toddler

[bklsmum]

http://abc13.com/news/police-break-into-locked-daycare-rescue-toddler/1043596/

WOW! I know that parents being late for pick up is frustrating but...just no.

[Bookworm]

The first center I worked at was shut down because of something like this among other things. Who were the closers? Do they not go through each room to make sure everything is clear. How do you leave a one year old in a center? Someone needs to lose their job at a minimum.

[Ariana]

"I honestly think they should shut it down, because if they can't keep an eye on her, they can't keep an eye on the other kids," Borum said.

"Protocol is, when you let the kids go, you check the whole checklist down and make sure everyone's checked out. Who was supposed to check that checklist?" Jones said."

Ummm where were you mom?!! honestly what the daycare did was horrible but where the heck were the parents in all of this? If a daycare closes at 6pm and you show up at 7pm where the heck do you think your child is???

At the centre where I used to work if we couldn't get a hold of a late parent or they couldn't be there at closing then the police and Child Protective Services were called. The daycare should have called the police.

[daycarediva]

"I honestly think they should shut it down, because if they can't keep an eye on her, they can't keep an eye on the other kids," Borum said.

"Protocol is, when you let the kids go, you check the whole checklist down and make sure everyone's checked out. Who was supposed to check that checklist?" Jones said."

Ummm where were you mom?!! honestly what the daycare did was horrible but where the heck were the parents in all of this? If a daycare closes at 6pm and you show up at 7pm where the heck do you think your child is???

At the centre where I used to work if we couldn't get a hold of a late parent or they couldn't be there at closing then the police and Child Protective Services were called. The daycare should have called the police.

The cops should have been called on the parents! if I child is left here an hour past closing, I have called parents with no response. I have called back up with no response you can bet your butt I am calling the authorities.

ETA- but yes the staff member responsible should be let go. They either forgot she was there (bad enough) or intentionally left her alone. EEK.

[Silly Songs]

Did you read the part in the article where the daycare had another issue because a worker took the child home with them when the parent didn't show up ?? What is going on in that place ? Everywhere I have ever worked , the director or asst director, even the owner has stayed past closing time witha child if the parent didn't come on time. They make calls and try to get someone on the pick up list to come, but they would NEVER leave a child alone !! That's absurd !

[Heidi]

The cops should have been called on the parents! if I child is left here an hour past closing, I have called parents with no response. I have called back up with no response you can bet your butt I am calling the authorities.

ETA- but yes the staff member responsible should be let go. They either forgot she was there (bad enough) or intentionally left her alone. EEK.

I honestly cannot beleive they did it on purpose. My guess, she was playing quietly or fell asleep somewhere and someone screwed up. Willfully leaving her there alone would be inviting a S*** storm. No one would think they could get away with that, right?

[mommyneedsadayoff]

I don't think this was intentional. It seems like someone missed the girl on their checkout list. Unacceptable for sure, but I wonder what the time difference between when the last person left the daycare and the parent showing up for pick up was? I don't get it. Something seems weird on all sides of this story.

[Play Care]

I honestly cannot beleive they did it on purpose. My guess, she was playing quietly or fell asleep somewhere and someone screwed up. Willfully leaving her there alone would be inviting a S*** storm. No one would think they could get away with that, right?

[Josiegirl]

Wow. I've joked with parents about setting their kids out beside the mailbox but actually forgetting one and locking up the place for the night.....somebody royally s@rewed up.

[Ariana]

I don't think this was intentional. It seems like someone missed the girl on their checkout list. Unacceptable for sure, but I wonder what the time difference between when the last person left the daycare and the parent showing up for pick up was? I don't get it. Something seems weird on all sides of this story.

I agree something is weird! I have closed up daycare centres many many times and there is no way, in my opinion, you could have a child there and not know...unless they were asleep in a closet or something. Just so bizarre.

[Unregistered]

I can see how it can happen. I used to be a closer at a daycare. We would hold the kids in one main room near the front entrance the last half hour of the day approximately a dozen or so kids. The teachers would bring the kids to the center play area and leave for the day. If a child was left in one of the other rooms and didn't cry or make noise we would have no idea they were there. This center had multiple rooms and had approimately 70 kids on a given day. Once the last kid in our care was picked up we immediately followed the last parent out the door that could have been 15 or 20 minutes before regular closing time sometimes. We didn't have a sign in or sign out that we checked over or do a final sweep of the building.

[Febby]

This is why sign in/out sheets are important. My current center uses them and we are required to sign the child in/out each time they enter/leave the room. The only exception is when entire classes are combined, in which case you simply have two (or more) clipboards. Administrators periodically check them and if you're more than five minutes behind on signing children in/out, then you get written up.

I've only ever worked at one center that didn't use sign in/out sheets and children were accidentally left in rooms at the end of the day multiple times while I was there. If the child was behind something and quiet and the staff didn't check, they got left. The teachers didn't necessarily clean their own rooms, so they would just leave after they had combined their children into other rooms.

[Dia]

http://abc13.com/news/day-care-apologizes-for-leaving-baby-alone-in-crib/889299/

This same thing just happened here in the Houston area a few months back. It seemed fishy at first but now that the story has more details it makes sense how it happened.

Either way, it is unacceptable and actions need to be taken to make sure children are not left alone, but parents need to pick up there kids on time too. If you are going to be late CALL, call the daycare, call family, friends, someone to pick up......you can't just pick up your child 45 minutes late.....what is wrong with people