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~ Owner says accusations malicious, false ~

CUL DE SAC--A day care centre in the Cul de Sac area is under investigation for the alleged physical abuse of children in its care, but the centre in question says the accusations are malicious, false and intended to damage its reputation.

Head of the Court of Guardianship Richelda Rodriguez-Emmanuel confirmed that two reports of child abuse had been reported to the Child Protection Services about the day care centre up to last week. Inspector for Day Care Centres Denise Cornet also confirmed to this newspaper that an investigation into the reports is underway.

The Daily Herald understands that more than one parent had complained about a particular teacher hitting children in various circumstances, including for them to sleep. Four of the seven teachers who worked at the facility walked off the job last week Monday because of the reported failure of the school’s owner (also a teacher) to take proactive actions against the sole teacher accused of hitting the young children. The owner of the school has confirmed that four of her teachers have left, but has denied that she hasn’t attempted to address the matter and said the teacher accused of hitting the children “would never do that.”

The owner of the school told The Daily Herald that the reports of child abuse were probably made by a disgruntled parent who had “an issue” with the school over a US $350 penalty fee (equal to a month’s tuition), which she was asked to pay for abruptly taking her child out of the school after a vacation, without giving the required advanced notice. The owner alluded to the penalty fee as “tuition” and said the parent did not want to pay the fee due to financial constraints. When this newspaper asked whether a parent hadn’t the right to remove their child from the school abruptly if he or she had concerns about the child’s safety; the owner said this was the school’s policy.  

The owner said the parent in question had complained that her son had been having “nightmares” and that he was fearful of attending the school. She said the three-year-old child had attended the school for about two years and according to the owner there were never any concerns before.

The owner said there had been another incident in which a teacher at the school, whose child is also a student in another teacher’s class, had caused a scene at the school after the child complained that a teacher had hit him. The teacher (who is also the parent) indicated that when she was bathing her son, the child said he was in pain and told his mother that a teacher had hit him. The teacher who is also the parent directly confronted the teacher accused of hitting the following day at school in the presence of other children. This teacher, whose child complained of being hit, was one of the four teachers who quit the day care centre last week.

The owner of the school said it was irresponsible for teachers to have walked off the job abandoning the children in their care and subsequently calling parents to pick up their offspring. Instead of confronting her colleague, the owner felt that the teacher should have raised the matter with her promptly. The owner accused the teachers who quit of “siding” with parents who have complained that their children had been hit. Asked whether it wasn’t possible that the four teachers had noticed a problem that she wasn’t addressing at the school, the owner said this wasn’t the case. Asked whether she had conducted an investigation looking into the complaints of the sole teacher accused of hitting children; the school owner said she asked the teacher about the complaints and they were denied. She said too that she was certain that the teacher would not do such a thing.

The owner said there was never any case of child abuse at her school in the past and noted that parents, including the one she believes filed one of the complaints, had given the school “a perfect” report in a recent survey.

The owner of the school said a parent had “threatened” her following the incident. Asked to elaborate on the threats received, she said the parent had indicated that the matter would be reported to the authorities for action to be taken and that the matter would not dissipate just like that.

The school had intended to call a parent/teacher’s meeting on Monday, but this did not proceed, due to the issues encountered that day. “Someone is trying to prank me and frame me,” the school owner said. The owner has since filed a complaint of harassment at the police station and has also visited the Inspectorate to give her side of the story and to present what she said was “proof” of her case.

In the meantime, Rodriguez-Emmanuel said no intervention will be done until the investigation is completed. She was, however, considering calling parents for a meeting on the issue.