Minnieland Academy At Heritage Hunt Cited for Supervision Violation

Following an unannounced inspection,  the Virginia Department of Social Services has cited the Minnieland Academy at Heritage Hunt for leaving a child without supervision in a classroom and failure to maintain an accurate account of children present. VDSS reported that Oct 22, a staff member of the Gainesville day care center, located at 7101 Heritage Hunt Drive, left a two-year-old child alone in a classroom. Inspector Linda Reynolds wrote in her Oct. 24 report:

Based on written reports and interviews with staff, it was determined that a two-year old-child was not in sight and sound supervision of staff. Evidence: On Tuesday, October 22, 2013 at approximately 6:15, a parent arrived to pick up Child A. She saw his teacher leaving the classroom and asked where her child was. Staff 1 stated that she did not know. Staff 1 and Staff 2 then went around the center looking for the child. Staff 2 found him in the classroom that Staff 1 had just left. The child was in the bathroom. Staff 1 was unaware that the child was in there. During interviews with staff, Staff 1 was unsure of how many children she had in her room and was unsure when child A had gone into the bathroom. Based on times that staff interviewed gave, it was determined that the child was out of sight and sound supervision for no more than five minutes.

According to the report, the employment of the staff member was terminated, "staff 2" will receive additional training and all staff at the center will receive corporate attendance training. "Until training is completed, either the Director or the the Assistant Director will be present at the end of the day," the report stated. The self-reported incident follows four citations over the past two years for incidents of staff inappropriately handling children. Following a Sept. 4 incident, Minnieland Academy's corporate office released the following statement: "Minnieland takes any licensing violations seriously, especially those that involve the health and safety of the children in our care.  After each licensing visit, Minnieland reviews any violations received and provides corrective action intended to minimize the risk of any repeat violations," Chief Operating Officer Christopher S. Schuster said.