Vine and Branches Lutheran Church

“The center shall ensure appropriate supervision of all children in care, including daily intake and dismissal procedures to ensure safety of children. 1. On 5/1/26, Child #1 (4 years old) was left unsupervised in the classroom for 7 minutes. 2. Based on review of video footage, at 10:01:24 am Staff #1 left the classroom to go to the multi purpose room(MPR) with 12 children. 3. Staff #2 was in the room with 5 children that included Child #1 who was using the restroom. 4. At 10:02:02 am, Staff #2 left the room with four children. Child #1 was still in the restroom, alone. 5. At 10:08:34 ama parent arrived with their child and saw Child #1 in the classroom, with no staff present. 6. At 10:09:14 am, the parent left the room with their child and Child #1 to go to the MPR. They arrived to the MPR at 10:09:55 am, where Child #1 joined the classroom and staff. 7. Both staff members stated that they did not complete the name to face count before leaving the classroom and as they each arrived to the MPR, as per the center’s “Attendance Procedures for Students” policy.”

“The center must submit a request for an out of state central registry and sex offender search for an employee that has resided outside of Virginia within the last 5 years, prior to the first day of hire. 1. Staff #1and Staff #2’s records indicated that they have both resided outside of Virginia within the last 5 years. 2. The out of state central registry searches for both employees were not submitted prior to their hire dates. The results have not been obtained to this date. 3. The out of state sex offender search for Staff #2 was not obtained prior to the hire date.”

“Based on staff interviews and records review, the child day center did not ensure appropriate supervision of all children in care. Evidence: 1. Staff # 1 stated that on 5/9/24 at approximately 4:55pm, 6 children (3-4 years old) were left alone and unsupervised in the Sunflowers classroom (4-5 years old), for approximately one minute. 2. Staff # 1 stated that at 4:55pm, she saw Staff # 2 preparing to leave for the day. Staff # 2 informed Staff # 1 that she dropped off 6 children in the Sunflower room. 3. At 4:56pm Staff # 1 was informed by a parent that children were alone in the Sunflower classroom. Staff # 1 made her way towards the room immediately and found 6 children with no staff present. 4. One of two witnesses stated that when she arrived to the classroom at approximately 4:55pm, she saw 6 children in the classroom with no staff while another parent was also there picking up. The witness stated that the children stated , “We don’t think there is a teacher in here”. 5. Staff # 2 stated that she had asked Staff # 3 if she could take the children to Staff # 3’s classroom as Staff # 2 was about to leave for the day. Staff # 2 stated that she had this conversation while Staff # 3 and Staff # 4 were still on the playground and about to return to their room. 6. Staff # 2 stated that at approximately 4:55pm when she brought the children to the Sunflower room, Staff # 3 was cleaning tables. Staff # 2 stated that she did not have a verbal conversation with Staff # 3 about the drop off. 7. Staff # 3 stated that approximately around 4:50-4:55pm, their class (Sunflowers) were outside and she had to bring in a child to use the bathroom. Staff # 3 stood at the back door of the room which also leads to the playground, with the door ajar. While she was standing there, Staff # 2 asked Staff # 3 from her own back door if she could bring children over, to which Staff # 3 said “that’s fine”. Staff # 3 stated in her written statement that “within less than a minute I was back outside with the child who used the restroom, my co-teacher and the rest of my students. We played for a few more minutes and then came back inside”. 8. Staff # 4 stated while her classroom was outside, at approximately 4:45-4:50pm, Staff # 2 stuck her head outside of her back door and spoke to Staff # 3. Staff # 4 stated that at approximately 4:55pm, when they returned to the classroom she saw children in the classroom without any staff present, and one parent. Staff # 4 stated that within a few seconds Staff # 1 came to get the children.”