NE Campus’ Children’s Center closed Oct. 11 after police investigated an incident between a teacher and a child.
Parents came to the center Oct. 9 for pickup and were informed that the center would close in three days. When parents asked for the reason, NE administration officials said they could not comment.
“We made the decision based on what we considered the school to no longer meet our TCC standards, and one of those standards included a personnel-related matter,” Vice Chancellor of communications and external affairs Reginald Gates said.
Jason Dziuk, the father of the child involved in the incident, said his child was fidgeting during nap time. He said then “a teacher became frustrated and responded inappropriately.”
The parents of the child were shown a report and a video of the incident and determined that it didn’t warrant the reaction from TCC.
“When I saw the instances, when I saw the footage, I was troubled. As a mother, I feel bad for my kid,” said Jenny Zheng, the mother of the involved child. “I know they were investigating. I was working with them. I was worried. I was shocked, but I was OK. My life was still going.”
Dziuk added that the center’s “devastating” closure “is traumatizing and hurting [his son] a thousand times over anything that happened that Friday.”
Zheng detailed how the change negatively impacted her day-to-day life.
“But when I heard the news about the school shutting down, I lost all my sleep,” she said. “My life stopped.”
Dziuk did not describe the teacher’s inappropriate action and declined to identify the teacher involved. He said the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ child care investigations program was looking into the matter. The DFPS-CCI investigates child abuse, neglect and exploitation in child care homes and centers.
“TCC police said they looked at it, and they see nothing of concern that they would take any action on,” Dziuk said. “The investigator told me that explicitly before he asked me if I wanted to press charges. And then, of course, after reviewing it, it’s an ‘Absolutely not.’”
TCC police detective Brandon Clarke declined to provide additional information.
According to a public report from the Texas Health and Human Services, another complaint was made in May that standards were not met and there was a greater risk to the safety of children.
“A caregiver did not demonstrate competency and good judgment, when grabbed a child by his arm as method of redirection,” the report said.
TCC had two instances where employees self-reported incidents that happened at the center. In the incident with the teacher grabbing the student’s arm, it was determined that the standard risk level was high.
Dziuk said parents discussed whether there may be an alternative reason for the sudden shutdown. He cited information from a press release issued by the district Feb. 7.
“There was a very substantial amount of money that came to the district for the opening of those two other child care centers at South and NW campuses,” he said. “If that level of money can keep coming to open more elsewhere, then our center is a breakeven competition that they would need out of the way.”
Parents of children enrolled at the day care attended a work session on Oct. 10 to express their concern for the consequences of the closure for the children and staff, including Cuc Mauldin, a parent of two who attended the center.
“We were kept in the dark until Oct. 9,” Mauldin said. “No apologies to the staff or the parents. They offered a solution by sending a list of day cares, like ‘Here, we’re done with you.’ We’re not happy with that solution. We don’t have time to figure out which day care and what happened.”
A petition signed by 20 of the 23 enrolled families was brought to the board protesting the closure.
Zheng said the signatures were “completely voluntary” and that there was “no pressure on these parents to sign the petition.”
Zheng sent an email to TCC board members Monday asking for the removal of NE Campus leadership. “Over the past three years, our family has been through six different schools,” she said. “TCC has provided the best care for our children, hands down. Even after the incident, [the child] didn’t remember what happened and he still thinks his teachers are the best people in the world.”
The center had a years-long waiting list of families seeking child care at the center.
“I have no plan for my 1-and-a-half-year-old,” Jeanette Favela said. “Our plan was for him to start next year, and now I have to be on a search to look for a school that is up to par with, or hopefully on the same level as TCC, but I don’t think there is one.”
