Daycare Termination

On June 10, 2008 I received a call from shoals preschool academy stating that Calen has had four episodes of diarrhea and he needs to be picked up. The one who contacted me is the owner's assistant names joanne. I asked why he had to be picked up and she stated that it was their policy. When I arrived, I asked to see the policy book, and of course, they could not find it. She claims to have checked his temp and he had a low-grade temp of 99. I asked for the thermometer to check it myself. With attitude, she brought me the thermometer, and sure enough, his temp had risen to 99.9. So I took him home. I let my daughter stay the rest of the day. I spent some one on one time with Calen. I took him to the park and let him swing, then we came home and I brought his bike that he got for Christmas outside and I pushed him all over the yard. When I went to the daycare to pick up my daughter, the owner sent his flunky joanne to ask me to stop by his office. I did. He claimed that after speaking with Elva Gardner (her last name is actually Garza) advised him that since Calen is a special-needs child and the daycare is just a general daycare and not equipped to deal with special needs children, care for Calen should be terminated. I asked him for the name and number to this worker so I can speak with her myself, and this man refused to give me her number. He said: "I was going to be nice and let Calen stay here a few extra days so that you can find somewhere else for him to go, but if you want to speak with her or the State about this then today will have to be Calen's last day." That let me know that he hasn't spoken with anyone about my son. He also stated that his staff was "too incompetent" to care for Calen. I was nice enough to inform several of his staff members of his comment. I called my good friend, Ashley, with Tuscumbia DHR. I left a message to request that she help me get Mrs. "Gardner's" phone number. I also contacted my supervisor at her home and told her the situation. I was unsure how long I was going to be off work due to this situation. I couldn't have asked for a more understanding supervisor. God knew what He was doing when He gave me this job.

Wednesday (the next day)
Ashley called me first thing this morning with the phone number and the correct name. I contacted Mrs. Garza's office right away and left a voice message. I also received a call from the Wee Care daycare with the United Cerebral Palsy Center. They only do a 6-week class during the summer and they pretty much follow city schools schedules. I may be able to get him in for the Fall for after school care. I contacted Lib Grissom with Just Kids. I've let my daughter stay there before. She runs a good clean daycare with very low employee turnover. Mrs. Grissom let me know that she had room for my babies, and they can start the next day. I also contacted the State and filed another complaint about how Calen was fed since they went against the doc's order's. That's a big no-no! I also let them know that my son was terminated by the owner. I stopped by shoals preschool academy again to pick up my children's stuff and to get the snake to sign transfer papers. He had the nerve to state "You're pulling Kylia out too, huh? That's a totally different attitude than yesterday." I stated, "I don't want my children to be cared for by an incompetent staff". With that being said he just mumbled "whatever" and walked out. I had to sign some papers stating that my children's care was being terminated. I put that care was terminated by the owner at the top of Calen's paper. I told the flunky to make me copies of these. She went into the snakes's office and he comes out and tells me that DHR will not allow him to make copies of papers to give to parents. When I called the state and asked was that true, she said that it's not true, but as long as the transfer papers were correctly filled out and signed then I shouldn't worry about it. He was just being difficult.

Thursday (today)
I took the kids to the new daycare this morning. Calen seemed to not mind exploring the new surroundings. The teachers seemed genuine about wanting to know about Calen's needs. Also, I ran into my baby sister, Tameka, dropping off her son Reese! We were glad to see each other. Kylia and Reese love to play together. They will be in the same class. I'm just concerned about Calen. I called to check on him and his teacher said he is doing fine. Mrs. Garza called me back. She let me know that she DID NOT talk to the snake (which I already knew). She is also working to get Calen in a daycare in Muscle Shoals that cares for special-needs kids. She is a wonderful lady. She is very nice and was surprised that the snake would lie on her like that. I'm hoping she contacts him to let him know that I found her. So far, things are going fine. The shoals preschool's owner is Ron Harden. He has lied about several things regarding the State's policies. There is no telling how many parents he has snowed with his crap. I would love to call him and say some ugly things to him, but God can handle him in a way that I can't so I will leave it all up to Him.