After a series of troublesome inspection reports and confirmed complaints, Buttons and Bows child-care center in Sand Springs lost its national accreditation in March.
Confirmed complaints include having 40 to 50 children on a playground with one caregiver; spiders in the facility; a bus driver running a red light; a bus driver talking on a cell phone while transporting children; using expired food; a child with a rash caused by not having diapers changed; head lice being treated with hairspray; not enough staff with children; and infants being laid down with bottles to nap, according to a Tulsa World analysis of inspection and complaint reports since January 2007. arrangements, and seven raised issues about nutrition and kitchen requirements. Blossom Child Care Centers, owned by Celeste Hacker, has received about 172 violations and eight confirmed complaints in its six centers since January 2007. Day Schools had an unusual occurrence last year with several complaints at one center. The three centers show minimal inspection violations that include overdue fire inspections and uncovered outlets.
Owner Betty McCoy said in a telephone conversation that the National Association for the Education of Young Children revoked the center's accreditation March 1. She disagreed with the decision, saying it was based on an incident in which the center acted on a parent's request.
Accreditation group officials did not comment about the center. McCoy did not respond to follow-up questions e-mailed to her.
Since February 2007, the center has received about 62 violations. Thirteen of those involved playground problems, 10 referred to inappropriate sleeping
State Department of Human Services inspections point to the seriousness of sleeping violations. In an inspection on Dec. 18, 2007, a worker found two toddlers napping with their faces and hands covered.
DHS increased its inspections to once a month since April 2007.
In a meeting with DHS officials on Feb. 18, McCoy stated she was planning a worker training session to review proper infant sleep and said many of the staff are enrolled in area early-childhood education programs.
"Complaints have gone down. Parent communication has obviously improved," according to a DHS report on the meeting. "Betty has changed her way of talking to parents and to staff to make negative message less abrasive."
The center still has a 3-star rating with DHS. Inspections at the first of the year went smoother with fewer violations but did include broken toys on the playground and sheets not on cots in one room, reports show.
"Another serious noncompliance case will be automatically referred to stars for a reduction," according to a DHS report. "This is a 3-star facility and minimum requirements should be met."
'A lot of interpretation'
Most are for issues with playground and building maintenance, including loose baseboards, no toilet paper in some bathroom stalls, food crumbs on a floor in a classroom, loose vent covers, outlets uncovered and torn mats.
According to the center's records, 73 violations were corrected during the inspector's visit, about 25 within a week of the visit and about 20 within the month.
"There is a lot of interpretation by the licensing worker. Some are sticklers and by the book," Hacker said. "We write letters disagreeing but never get a response. Once the inspections are done, there is no recourse.
"We feel licensing is a good tool and that they are basically here to help us. If I need something done, I do it at the time of the visit if possible. But that is never reflected in the inspection forms."
On a recent inspection of its Owasso center, inspectors recorded a violation for trash on the playground. The weather service recorded 23 mph winds at that time and about six items had been blown onto the playground, said regional manager Teresa Lewis.
"We picked it up in the wind, and it blew away from us twice, and took it inside to the worker," Lewis said. "She still recorded it as a noncompliance."
Confirmed complaints include not having a signed medical form to apply over-the-counter diaper cream, lack of supervision when a child was bitten, not having a booster seat when transporting kids and not having the proper staff-to-child ratios.
On a confirmed complaint of having more than 50 children in a room licensed for 30, Hacker said children from two rooms were brought together to board a bus for a field trip.
"The worker saw them line up, walk out the door and board the bus," she said. "But she wrote us up anyway."
The center self-reported an incident of a 2-year-old getting into his diaper bag and opening a bottle of Tylenol sent by his mother.
Hacker said they could not determine if he drank any but took him to the emergency room, where the child was found healthy and sent back to the center.
"It did change our policies," Hacker said. "We check all diaper bags and book bags, ask parents to not send any medication and we do not administer any medication. It was an unfortunate situation. But we notified DHS immediately."
The six Blossom centers are accredited by the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation. Blossom cares for about 500 children and has a waiting list.
"We want parents to look at any information available," Hacker said. "They have to look at it with an open mind. If they have questions, call the director. Give us a chance to explain what happened. There are always two sides to it. This is just the side of DHS.
"Talk to us about your problems. We can't fix it unless you tell us. We need to be made aware. Let us try to fix it first."
'Not hide it'
DHS confirmed a complaint that a staff member hit children with a ruler on Feb. 28, 2008. Owner Laura Briley says the teacher, who is considered a master teacher by education and experience, denies it happened. After the confirmation, she was fired.
Briley successfully appealed a confirmed complaint that a child's hands were taped together, which she said was for an arts project and not for punishment, as DHS claims. Other complaints were unfounded.
"They were making a vase out of tape," Briley said. "There was an assistant director in the classroom and parents coming in and out."
In a letter written to DHS by an attorney on Briley's behalf, it is argued that DHS has a "culture of presuming accusations of a complaint true until the respondent disproves them."
DHS claims that is "misguided and inappropriate," in a response letter that detailed investigation results. At one point, Briley's attorney requested information not be made public until an appeal is complete.
"I didn't see that letter before it went out, and I called immediately and told him it was the law for that to be public," Briley said. "I believe in being honest with people and upfront and not hide it."