complaint·October 6, 2022

According to Fern Academy Parent Handbook/Admission Agreement: Fern reserves the right to terminate the enrollment of a child at any time and for any reason deemed appropriate. All children are expected to abide by the rules of our Code of Conduct. Any violation of the Code of Conduct can be grounds for automatic dismissal and refunds will not be given. Every effort will be made to rectify a situation before termination is required. LPA obtained internal communication logs that are utilized by the facility to document how contact was made to parents/legal guardians and why. One log showed 10 incidents occurring on the same day but, did not list how this was communicated. Another log showed 7 incidents that had occurred from 8/11/2022 to 8/25/2022. According to that log, two of the incidents were reported to the parent/legal guardian via the Brightwheel app. When LPA reviewed a printout of the incident reports, in Brightwheel from August 8/8/2022 through 8/25/2022, there was only one incident of a child tripping and cutting their lip, nothing regarding behavior. Also, conflicting information was obtained during the investigation, regarding the verbal reporting of these incidents to the parent/legal guardian. A portion of the information provided states that the parent/legal guardian was informed of the incidents, verbally, as they occurred, however additional information obtained states that the incidents were reported once notice of termination was given. The information that was not obtained during this investigation was the effort made, by Fern Academy, to rectify the situation before termination, as stated in their Parent Handbook/Admission Agreement. Based on LPAs observations and interviews which were conducted, and a review of additional pertinent information obtained, the preponderance of evidence standard has been met, therefore the above allegation is found to be Substantiated. See LIC9099-D for cited deficiency. A notice of site visit was given and must remain posted on, or immediately adjacent to, the interior side of the main door for 30 days. Failure to comply with posting requirements shall result in an immediate civil penalty of $100. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with the licensee/Director Linglin He. There are times where children are observed to need a diaper changed sooner than an hour after the last change, if that occurs, then the diaper is also changed. Any diaper check or diapering is to be inputted into the Brightwheel application to keep a record and for parents to be aware. From the information obtained during the investigation, there had been a child that had a full diaper upon being picked up from the facility on three separate occasions. On all three occasions, staff offered to do a diaper change prior to the child leaving however, parent/guardian refused the offer and optioned to take the child home and change the diaper themselves. By the third time, the child had developed a diaper rash. The diaper rash was reported on August 15, 2022, by the parent/legal guardian to facility staff and the parent/legal guardian was informed that the issue would be addressed. Also, it could not be determined how long after the child was picked up from the facility, was the rash observed. Information regarding the diapering issues that were reported was requested, obtained, and reviewed. In reviewing the information from Brightwheel, diapering information for August 8, 2022, through August 15, 2022, was unavailable. Also, for the date of August 16, 2022, there was an entry for a diaper change being done at 10:18pm, yet the child had been signed out at 5:25pm, and the facility closes at 6:30pm. This information could not be explained by staff. Although the allegation may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove the alleged violation did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is unsubstantiated. A notice of site visit was given and must remain posted on, or immediately adjacent to, the interior side of the main door for 30 days. Failure to comply with posting requirements shall result in an immediate civil penalty of $100. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with the licensee/Director Linglin He.