WATERTOWN — The Watertown Early Education Center had its license revoked by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) on Monday.
The education center is inside of the YMCA in Watertown.
"There is some good staff here. But from the top down, it needs an overhaul,” a Watertown dad told TMJ4.
The dad wished to remain anonymous, but wanted his voice heard about the Watertown Early Education Center. He met up with TMJ4’s Megan Lee Tuesday afternoon.
Lee asked him what went through his mind when he heard about the license revocation.
“About time,” he said. “There's been so many problems."
Watch: Former Watertown early education center parent reacts to state revoking license
TMJ4 found out about the license issue from the anonymous man and his wife who called the station. The wife mentioned that the education center had multiple violations over the past few years.
According to DCF, five complaints have been made against the program in the past two years. The department issued 34 rule violations, including 10 serious violations and three repeat violations.
According to this report, the violations include a missing child and a teacher restricting a child’s movement.
“How do you lose a kid in a center like this,” the anonymous dad asked.
The dad said he had concerns about his son being very hungry after school each day.
"Towards the end my son was so afraid to go in," the dad said. "He would get to the door and panic."
That's why the family chose to take their two kids out of center in January.
Lee asked why they reached out to TMJ4.
“Somebody needs to get the story out otherwise the Y will just push it under the rug," he said.
Jon Lange, CEO of the Glacial Community YMCA, issued the following statement regarding the Early Childhood Education Center at the Watertown Area YMCA:
“We are appealing the decision by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) to revoke our license to operate childcare services at the Watertown Area YMCA.
This action by DCF stems from incidents within the past year that we have addressed both internally and directly with DCF. Notably, an incident last June that involved allegations of child abuse followed by an investigation in which the District Attorney declined to file charges against the accused caregiver, resulted in a $1,000 fine known as a “direct forfeiture assessment” from DCF. That action has also been appealed and, via an open records request, we have requested documentation from DCF related to assessment of that fine.
We remain committed to providing safe, quality care to the children and families we serve, and have always made every effort to fully cooperate with DCF and comply with all requests and decisions made by the department.”
THE YMCA said the Watertown Early Education Center will remain open during the appeal process.
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