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Article by Paula Gomes, Tennessee Conservative News –
A Clarksville preschool-aged child was left alone on a daycare bus for nearly half an hour earlier this month and the incident is being investigated by state officials.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) is working with the state’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) on the investigation into the incident in which a 5-year-old was left without adult supervision at Kid’s Stuff & More C.D.C. on West Concord Drive after other children and staff had exited the school’s vehicle.
State child care compliance records state that staff failed to confirm that all children had left the bus.
While the transportation log recorded the child exiting with the rest of the class, the driver of the bus and a reviewer failed to do a physical walk through to make sure that everyone was off. Video footage shows that the child did not go into the building with the other children.
The facility has since been given technical assistance which includes requiring that staff do name-to-face counts during transitions.
According to DHS, the school has been placed on notice for the critical violations. As part of a safety plan, staff training has been requested.
The incident comes on the heels of three former Memphis Daycare employees being charged after a non-speaking, autistic girl died in their care.
The Kid University employees were indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on multiple felony charges after six-year-old Winter Jones was left on a daycare bus last month during a heatwave that saw temperatures in the 90s and heat indexes of more than a 100 degrees.
The fact that Winter did not exit the bus was not discovered until at least six hours had passed. She was found too late, unresponsive and barely breathing, later dying at the hospital.
As the result of an investigation conducted by DHS, daycare staff were found to not have completed vehicle inspections. They also did not fill out transportation logs with accurate information and failed to do walk-throughs on the van which were required to be completed.
Sources:
WSMV.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
