Childcare Learning Centers Inc., of Stamford, which runs a popular preschool program, has been fined $3,200 by the state Department of Public Health for leaving children unsupervised on three separate occasions.
The CLC Maple Avenue Child Development Center, in a consent order with the state dated Feb. 3, also agreed to hire an outside consultant to observe classrooms and staff and their interactions with the children on a monthly basis for three months, and then quarterly for the remainder of the year.
The CLC Maple Avenue facility is touted on the agency’s website as a “new state-of-the-art facility” that is a pilot site for “the best education models of tomorrow.”
In the consent order, the Center agreed to implement any recommendations made by the outside consultant and to require staff to undergo three hours of training.
According to the state DPH, center staff:
• Were unaware on Dec. 17, 2009 that three children left a classroom and were outdoors unsupervised on a classroom deck.
• Did not know that on May 14, 2010, a 4-year-old with special needs had left the playground and wandered into the parking lot. The child was unsupervised for about 10 minutes, the state report says.
• Left a 3 ½ year-old behind in a classroom when a class went to the gym on Oct. 14, 2010. The child was left unsupervised for about 15 minutes, the report says.
CLC was established in 1902 as the Stamford Day Nursery, to provide care for the children of working families. Since then, CLC has grown dramatically and is now licensed to serve 1,250 children and their families daily, the center’s website says.