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The Centerpointe Christian Preschool in Pleasanton is closed until Wednesday for staff to get extra training and for management to review procedures after after it was discovered that a teacher bound a 2-year-old with masking tape.
“We’ll do training Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Saturday and Sunday will not be all-day sessions but there will be hours spent each day,” church spokesman Tim Hunt said.
Investigators from the Pleasanton Police Department have interviewed the preschool’s staff, and a statement from the church notes, “We are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation and the legal outcome is unknown.”
Until October, the preschool had a spotless record. Then, in the period of five months, the school, based at the church on Cornerstone Court, received eight citations from the state Department of Social Services, which oversees preschools and daycare centers.
This week, the preschool received its most serious violation to date, after a picture of a 2-year-old girl with her wrists and ankles bound with masking tape was shown by former teacher Angela Calcagno to the girl’s mother.
The picture was taken by Calcagno, and apparently shown to the child’s mother — another teacher –at a social gathering. It’s unknown when the photo was taken.
“We haven’t seen the picture. The cops presumably have seen the picture although I do not know that for a fact,” Hunt said. “The only people I know who have seen the picture are two teachers — one, the mother of the child and another teacher.”
The state DSS has apparently seen the photo, too, according to a report filed March 7.
“It was nap time and according to the complainant, the child would not take her nap. A staff member who is no longer employed at the center told the child that if she did not take a nap, that the staff member was going to tie her up. The child continued to refuse a nap, and the staff member tied up the child’s ankles with masking tape,” that report said.
“This photograph was then shared with current and former staff members of the facility. It was confirmed that the photograph showed the girl with her ankles and wrists tied with masking tape while sitting on her cot at the facility.”
A police report was filed March 4, and Centerpointe reported the incident to licensing on March 5.
In a separate letter, dated March 11, the preschool teacher who bound the child was declared a threat by DSS.
Calcagno, who quit Centerpointe Christian Preschool in February, was ordered by the state not to have any contact with clients or to be “physically present” at the school.
“The Department has determined that the continued or future presence of this person in your facility constitutes a threat to the health and safety of the clients in your care,” a letter from DSS to the preschool says.
Failure to comply could lead to the suspension or revocation of Centerpointe’s license.
“The department’s top priority is the children in their care,” said DSS spokesman Michael Weston.
The child’s mother has also left her position, Hunt said.
Until this week, the school had largely minor violations, all of which began in October when the school was cited three times.
Two citations were for leaving 12 preschool children in a room unsupervised — apparently for less than a minute — and for leaving bleach where it could be reached in the same room.
Hunt said that occurred when a teacher, who was using bleach on art pieces the children were working on, stepped outside to hang the art.
The third citation that same day came when an inspector from DSS determined the preschool had not conducted a fire drill in the last six months.
An inspection in December showed no violations, but in January, the preschool was cited four times in a single visit by DSS.
The school reported that it allowed a 17-year-old volunteer to supervise children on a single day in January and it was fined $150.
“On Jan. 24, that was just a flat error, no sugar-coating it — a 17-year-old was supervising children,” Hunt said.
The school was also cited on that visit for leaving a bottle of bleach in a laundry area where it could be reached by children, and for leaving two metal stumps — once part of a bench — sticking out of the ground.
Those metal stumps have been removed, and staff discussed better handling of potential dangerous items.
“You coach, you council and you train your whole team,” Hunt said.
The visit also confirmed a complaint that the preschool’s former director, Greg Robitaille, had been bringing his infant son to the center to be cared for by staff. He was ordered by the state not to bring his son in again.
In February, the school was cited by the DSS because at four classrooms, the number of children on the sign in/sign out sheet did not match those in attendance. According to the DSS report dated Feb. 13, parents hadn’t signed their children in.
Hunt said that shows the facility was making progress.
“It was a darn strong program and something goes off track. We were making steps to get it back on track and then this happens,” Hunt said, referring to the incident surrounding the 2-year-old.
With one class B violation in February, he said, “In our mind, that speaks to progress being made, and then this other thing pops.”
Weston said the DSS is taking the case seriously.
“In this case here, you have a facility that has a recent history of non compliance issues, and DSS has a variety of enforcement measures we can use,” he said. “The focus of our enforcement and our licensing is to protect the children in their care. If a single incident rises to the level where the department feels there’s a need to close a facility, we can close a facility in a day.”
In general, he said, there is an escalation that begins with citing a facility.
“There’s 10,523 daycare centers in the state. That’s just daycare centers, not counting daycare (in private) homes. Citations are something the department writes every day. The standard is compliance.”
Pastor Mike Barris said the congregation at Centerpointe was “appalled and shocked” at the incident.
There have been six resignations by teachers in the preschool and one in the school-age program during the time surrounding Robitaille’s resignation, although the church will not provide details due to employee confidentiality. A search for a new director was set to start this week.
This preschool needs to have a better quality control system, and all indications say that the church is going to make sure that it happens. The community needs these daycare services, so I am hoping that Centerpointe can overcome these problems and move on to continue their past history of excellent service.
Will Tim Hunt,our favorite right-wing advocate and Centerpointe spokesman, be involved in the training or will he be busy typing up his next anti-union article?
Will Centrepoint be filing a complaint to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing on the ex-Director they hired so that this person’s Child Development Program Director Permit can be revoked?
Wow! Does the DSS visit all 10,523 preschools this frequently? Sort of sounds like a vendetta to me. We all want the little children safe, and we also want all the preschools to be treated equally. Although I know absolutely nothing about this program, I agree that they need to do whatever is necessary to assure the parents their children are cared for safely.
Like I say, if I had a child in the program, I’d whisk it up in my arms and run away without ever looking back.
That this occurred, to the point that the alleged offender actually felt confident about showing photos to other staff, indicates a polluted culture, through and through. It was only because one of the staff was a parent that event(s) came to light. What else is hiding beneath the carpet is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t put my child into such a situation based upon a guess.
The teachers at Centerpointe are caring, experienced, trustworthy, and mature people. It really is sad that this bizarre incident with one teacher is so damaging to the reputation of the school. Honestly, the culture is not “polluted.”, and that infers that the remaining teachers (most who have been there since the beginning) are somehow polluted. Having had 3 kids go through the program there and knowing and loving so many of the teachers this makes me really sad. Yes, in recent months there have been grievances with the director (now gone) and church management. Changes need to happen there. Yes, a few of the original teachers hired by the first director, who was great, have left. The staff that remains is so dedicated though. The classrooms themselves with the regular teachers who remain (Angela didn’t even have her own classroom, she went around and helped out) are safe and the children there thrive.
Very nice. Very wishful. I feel soooo much better now. Not.
Please stop with the efforts to sugarcoat a very serious problem. Though your efforts shouldn’t be surprising, they do get tiresome, in addition to being dangerous.
The place should be shut down until it is thoroughly investigated by the state.
The person responsible for harming the child needs to be very carefully examined. She is quite possibly mentally ill and a criminal.
The authorities have been there and have not shut it down, nor has there been any further investigation beyond what is happening with the one teacher. Oh wait, I guess they need to talk to , “Freddie ” about it since he’s the authority on the subject. Maybe you should call them up and let them know.
Cholo, agreed, and she is being investigated though not charged with anything yet.
i went through the school system here. this is nothing compared to what i went through in these schools. and i would like to start by saying something positive first, my kids who are all currently enrolled in the pleasanton school district are told how to handle abusive teachers. that doesnt mean anything gets done buy the district / school when notified by a child or parent. this is however NOT the case with HEARST ELEMENTARY and the PRINCIPAL MR. MICHAEL KUHFAL. WOW, this man was an amazing experience. if your child is fortunate enough to go to school under MR. KUHFALs managment, consider yourself very, very blessed. this is a man of honor, integrity, and goodness whos hands never seem to be tied when it comes to doing the right thing. thank you sir, for everything over the years.
now for some unpleasantness ( no pun intended, well maybe ) anyway when i grew up here no one gave two cents about how the teachers acted or the kids being abused. in fourth grade, “you know how young that is”? at WALNUT GROVE SCHOOL i was punched full force in the stomach, to the point of having the wind knocked out of me, and as i laid there gasping for air, crying the teacher MRS. A was standing over me screaming and pointing at me in front of the whole class, demeaning me. this all happened 15 min before pictures were taken at school that day. she was known for throwing things at students, staplers, hard wooden erasers, and even chairs. she was a complete fool and a liability for the school. probably a good thing for the district she was met with a premature death at a very young age, probably due to a rage problem. in seventh grade at HARVEST PARK SCHOOL the so called teacher MR. L was a drunk child abuser who came to school for no other reason than to be abusive to minor children. this guy would start off buy being verbaly abusive to students and as the alcohol continued to flow the abuse would turn to physical confrontations. many, many times he would dig the heels of his cowboy boots into you hand as you sat on the floor or use the pointed toe to kick you in the leg or side of your body he would come up behind you and jam something in your back and make crude warnings about things i cant mention here. worst part is these teachers actions were brought to the attention of others and nothing was done. at some point, some years later MR.L got caught and was finally removed. think he continued to teach somewhere else, livermore maybe, thats where he was from. i have countless other stories of abuse, all levels of abuse from pleasanton teachers.
so when your kids say something isnt right, listen to them ESPECIALY IN PLEASANTON, WHEN I SAY YOUR KIDS i dont mean just parents, i am talking about administrators, these are your kids too. stop seeing only the abuse your required to see, do the right thing. i know there are still plenty of things that are met with a broom in this school district, but maybe things are changing.
It seems that a section on child safety needs to be incorporated into the program. Each of the violations cited involves a situation that no school administrator of teacher should fail to notice or prevent.
Mike