Barre Town Early Education Program

Regulation 2.3.9.3: The licensee shall ensure that all staff have met ongoing background check requirements by submitting at least once every five (5) years a Records Check Authorization form to the Division and as required shall submit to fingerprinting.

“Staff A was required to complete their five(5) year fingerprint supported background clearance by 10/25/2024. Staff B was required to complete their five(5) year fingerprint supported background clearance by 11/08/2024. Staff A and B did not complete the background check renewal. This is a repeat violation cited on 01/17/2024. Corrective Action: Please send record check authorization forms for Staff A and B. Once they have completed their fingerprinting appointment send this licensor a copy of the receipts. This is a repeat violation and a program improvement plan is required. The plan shall identify how the program will track fingeprint expiration dates and who will be responsible for ensuring staff are completing their five year fingerprint renewal.”

Correction date in the state record: Jun 24, 2025

Regulation 7.2.2: The licensee shall ensure that all new staff and auxiliary staff, prior to working with children in the CBCCPP; and any new individual designated as the representative of the licensee shall submit a Records Check Authorization form to the Division and shall submit to fingerprinting at a location designated by the Division after having received the Fingerprinting Authorization Certificate by the Division.

“The Child Development Division(CDD)notified the program on 10/02/2024, that the director needed to complete fingerprinting. The director did not complete fingerprinting as requested. Corrective Action: Since the visit the director has completed the fingerprint supported background check. CDD will notify the program when we receive the fingerprint supported background check results. Until that time the director may not be left alone with children. Ensure that staff complete fingerprinting when CDD makes the request.”

Correction date in the state record: Mar 6, 2025

Regulation 3.3.3: The licensee, staff, auxiliary staff, and partner staff shall understand that abuse and/or neglect of children is against the law and that all child care workers are legally required to report suspected child abuse or neglect as specified in the rule 3.3.2 of these regulations.

“Preschool staff were notified that Child X made an allegation that Staff B grabbed them and caused a scratch on their neck.The scratch mark was observed by staff. Staff did not call the Division of Children and Families(DCF) central intake phone line to report the allegation. Additionally, staff did not report the allegation to the program director or any other school administrators. This led to a five day delay in reporting this allegation to the Child Development Division. Corrective Action: Preschool staff and school administrators met with Licensor [name] on 03/08/2024. The regulation requirements were dicussed and the reasoning for why this allegation should have been reported was reviewed. Staff completed the Protecting Vermont's Children Mandated Reporter Training as a refresher. Staff stated moving forward they will notify the director if there is an allegation of potential abuse made by a child against staff. Staff stated they understand the requirement to report possible abuse and neglect to DCF. Corrective action met.”

Correction date in the state record: Mar 8, 2024

Regulation 5.3.2: Daily Health Check Upon arrival into the CBCCPP staff shall observe each child for symptoms of communicable disease and signs of injuries. Any obvious injuries shall be documented along with any comments from the parent pertaining to the child's condition. This documentation shall be maintained in the child's file for a minimum of 365 days.

“On 01/25/2024 Child X's family member notified Staff A that Child X had a scratch on their neck and Child X alleged that Staff B grabbed them and caused the scratch mark. Staff A stated they saw the scratch mark. Staff A did not document this new injury or the information related to how the child stated it happened. Corrective Action: Preschool staff and school administrators met with Licensor [name] on 03/08/2024 to discuss the requirements of this regulation. The program created a plan to ensure that staff are not only documenting new injuries they may observe but also documenting when a child's family provides information related to a new injury. Corrective action met.”

Correction date in the state record: Mar 8, 2024

Regulation 3.4.7.3: Within six (6) months of the initial date of employment; staff and auxiliary staff left alone with children and/or counted in staff/child ratio as specified in the rule 6.2.1.8 of these regulations, and the program director shall maintain an up-to-date BFIS Quality and Credential Account. Documentation, verification of qualifications, and all annual professional development activities as specified in the rules in sections 7.3 and 7.4 of these regulations shall be submitted to Northern Lights at CCV to be verified and maintained in BFIS.

“Of the eighteen staff members only five had complete BFIS accounts reflecting all of the required training and credential documents. Since the visit the program has sent most of the missing documentation to Northern Lights @CCV and this licensor was included on those emails. Corrective Action: Please send any remaining documents to Northern Lights@CCV and include this licensor. Please create a system to ensure that documents are being sent to Northern Lights @CCV, and staff BFIS accounts are reviewed to ensure documents have been uploaded.”

Correction date in the state record: Jan 24, 2024

Regulation 2.3.9.3: The licensee shall ensure that all staff have met ongoing background check requirements by submitting at least once every five (5) years a Records Check Authorization form to the Division and as required shall submit to fingerprinting.

“Staff A and Staff B did not renew their fingerprint supported background clearance by the 5 year renewal date. Since the visit the program has submitted new record check authorization forms to start the fingerprint supported background clearance process. The program stated they did not know they were due for renewal and were not notified. A letter was sent on 02/13/2023 that notified the program that Staff A and Staff B were due for fingerprint supported background clearance renewal. This letter was sent to the contact email the program provided and is also available to the program in their documents tab in BFIS. Corrective Action: Please email this licensor once Staff A and Staff B have submitted to fingerprinting. Please also create a system that will allow the program to track fingerprint supported background clearance renewal dates.”

Correction date in the state record: Jan 24, 2024

Regulation 3.4.6.1: The licensee shall maintain a record of the date of each evacuation drill as required in the rules in section 3.7.2 of these regulations that includes the number of children and staff evacuated, time taken to evacuate, and notation of the drill conducted while children were sleeping or resting. Evacuation records shall be kept for two (2) years. When the CBCCPP counts lock-down drills as allowed in the rules in section 3.7.2 of these regulations, the licensee shall maintain a record of the date of each lock-down drill, the number of CBCCPP children and staff who participated, and note that the drill performed was a lock-down drill.

“The fire drill log for calendar year 2021-2022 show drills were not documented for the months of October, November, December, January, and February. Some of the teachers stated they had completed the evacuation drills but could not find the written documentation. Corrective Action: Immediately conduct and document monthly evacuation drill for both the AM and PM classes. Develop a plan that ensures monthly evacuation drills are practiced monthly for both the AM and PM classes. In this plan, also identify which staff person will be responsible for setting the date and time for drills, assessing the drill for completeness, and maintaining the required documentation. Provide a copy of this plan to your licensor kimberly.buxton@vermont.gov.”

Correction date in the state record: Mar 16, 2022