Remember this post? About how I embarrassed myself in front of the daycare-running adults who bring kids to two of my kids' activities?
Well, now I don't feel so bad. They clearly have other things to worry about besides the random mom putting her foot in her mouth. Like, addressing the issues that were brought up on the FRONT PAGE of the Forum today. Oops.
Yes, that is the bad-parking gentleman outside of the van, and as far as I can tell, the trampoline-police lady is inside the van.
I'll summarize the article for those of you who won't click the link. Apparently the Trampoline Policelady is Sara of Sara's Little Angels daycare, which closed their doors unexpectedly a couple weeks ago. And the Bad-Parking Fella is James, who lives with Sara and is planning on opening another daycare in October. (Although I saw the van with his daycare name at dance on Monday, and he had kids in it, so I'm not sure what's going on there...)
Parents are steamed 'cause Sara hasn't refunded them their deposits or pre-payments yet, but yet is seemingly connected with opening this new daycare?
Did you read the part where James has been convicted of TWO felonies? Which I honestly think is overplayed in the article ("Twice-convicted felon" are the first words of the darn thing) since neither of them were violent or had anything to do with children. Just another example of the media dramatizing the news to sell papers. But still.
This brings up a whole new issue of daycare regulation - which I know basically nothing about. But it does seem odd that there is no background checks required for licensed daycares in ND. As a teacher, I had to get finger-printed and everything...and I was working with high schoolers. Also, I tend to agree that there should be some support from the state regarding daycares - several have closed unexpectedly this year, and I can't imagine the amount of stress that puts on a family with two working parents. If ND wants people to move here, there has to be a support network for them. And that includes reliable caretakers for their kids.
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
1 year ago
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5 comments:
Todd Twogood is the Childcare Champion for North Dakota. He will likely be testifying before the legislature this upcoming year about the exact issues you listed.
Wow! I just read the whole article from the Forum. This is bad stuff. The guy basically was caught in bold face lying to the reporter and was convicted of stealing a snowmobile. Not someone who I would recommend leaving your children with. Daycare in ND needs some reform for sure. It might get a lot more expensive.
Wow! That's pretty crazy! I can't believe there are such lax reg's! So is AJ my BIL? Is he getting involed in your blog?? : )
With all these letters floating around for names, it looks like Lyz is convening an algebra class...but that was yesterday's blog.
If the Little Angels daycare was incorporated, it could go bankrupt (leaving parents and creditors without their due) and the owners go on to start the next business.
A couple additional thoughts and observations:
(1) This morning I was watching the Fargo City Comission meeting on public access cable and some liquor license transfers were on the agenda. It was interesting to note the thorough background checks done on bar managers vs daycare principals.
(2) After watching the commission meeting, I road tripped out to Horace which took me by the new Kids R Us daycare site in Eagle Run. It made me wonder if the start-up costs of that site had drained the bank account, leading to the paychecks of the Little Angels employees bouncing. Liquidity matters on main street as well as Wall Street (the one in New York City, not North Moorhead).
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