Complaint·August 15, 2023

The Director had the preschooler escorted from the infant room back into the preschooler room to rejoin the preschooler classroom once it was determined there was a preschooler child that was allowed to sleep in the infant room. The Director was advised that the licensed capacity of the room is only 12 preschoolers and that there needed to be an aide or another teacher in the room with the Preschool Teacher for it to be within ratio. The Director stated that they were providing lunch breaks and that they did not have the second teacher as they were on break. The facility was out of ratio with 13 preschoolers to one staff providing care and supervision. This is a Type A violation, see the LIC 9099D for the details. Based on information obtained, observations, and interviews with relevant complaint parties, the Allegation is deemed substantiated for exceeding the teacher-child ratio and a Type A citation will be issued. A finding of substantiated means that allegations were valid because the preponderance of the evidence standard has been met. As a Type A deficiency has been cited, a copy of the citation and licensing report must be posted for 30 days. The same report must be provided to Parents/Guardians and the Acknowledgment of Receipt of Licensing Reports LIC 9224 must be signed by Parents/Guardians of all enrolled children and any newly enrolled children in the next 12 months following the citation. If these requirements are not met, civil penalties per violation will be assessed. An exit interview was conducted, a copy of this report read and provided to the Director, and the Notice of Site Visit and Appeal Rights was explained and given to the Director. Allegation: On or around 5/24/2023, it was alleged that the facility was over capacity and removing preschoolers from the facility to appear to be in capacity. During the investigation, the observation, record review, and interview with relevant parties revealed the following information. On 8/2/2023, LPA Pittman visited the facility, there were 13 preschoolers present in the preschool classroom with one teacher providing care and supervision. Although the facility was out of ratio for the classroom, the preschool classroom was not over capacity. Additionally, record review supported that the facility was within capacity for the preschool license. After reviewing the relevant information obtained, there is not a preponderance of the evidence to support the allegation. After observations, record reviews, and interviews, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence that the facility was operating over capacity. The allegations could not be corroborated with the evidence found during the investigation. Therefore, the allegations have been found unsubstantiated. Although, the allegations may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of the evidence to prove that the facility operated in violation of policy in this circumstance. An exit interview was conducted, and a copy of this report was provided to Director along with the Notice of Site Visit and Appeal Rights.