MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The Memphis daycare responsible for leaving a five-year-old child alone in a bus for hours on Monday abruptly surrendered its license that night.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services tells abc24.com this was not the first problem for Kids School Daycare in the 1100 block of Thomas in Memphis.
Parents can never be sure what happens when they're not with their children, but parents of kids at First Baptist Day School can worry a little less than others. The director, Holly Labarreare says, "All parents need to do their research before deciding on childcare."
Alexis Jennifer's son was left in the bus outside Kids School Daycare in Northeast Memphis. The boy's father had to pry open the chain link fence and pull him from a window. Jennifer said she asked daycare workers about their procedures, before deciding to trust them with her son. Jennifer says she asked, "'Have you ever had a child left on the bus?' She said, 'No, not in 18 years.' I trusted her with that in the interview."
However, don't just take their word for it. The truth is easily accessible online from the
state of Tennessee's Human Services website. Find your county, type in your zip code and all licensed daycares, along with their ratings, are at your fingertips.
Although Kids School Daycare once held a three-star rating, the Department of Human Services says the daycare has had violations already this year. The director surrendered their license Monday night.
First Baptist has three star ratings across the board, the highest level possible. It's an achievement Labarreare says they work hard for. In addition to the web check, Labarreare says visit the sites and evaluate for yourself, "Check for cleanliness, that's a huge red flag if you see toys that aren't clean, broken toys, things falling off the wall teachers that aren't engaged with their children. Those would be red flags."
To learn more about daycare regulations and standards, visit
http://www.tn.gov/humanserv/adfam/cc_main.htmlTo look up daycare ratings in Tennessee, visit
http://www.tn.gov/accweb/
