Daycare allegedly physically abused 4 children in Bloomington, Minn.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (KMSP) - Disturbing allegations have come to surface of young children being physically abused at a daycare in Bloomington, Minn. The Department of Human Services found that Rainbow Montessori had committed a couple of significant violations, including physical abuse of four alleged victims.
One mother told Fox 9 her daughter was struck by an employee at the daycare. The woman's child no longer goes to the daycare, but she and several other parents are angry about what's apparently going on inside.
"They kept trying to sweep things under the rug,” Kahlayaha Bey said.
Bey had her young daughter enrolled at Bloomington's Rainbow Montessori for several years. But she explained that when the young child moved into the pre-kindergarten program, the care took an ugly turn.
“She didn't want to go. She would beg me sometimes. ‘Mommy I don't want to go to school this morning.’ I was like ‘you have to... I have to go to work.’”
Bey contends at some point a staff member struck her daughter. She also claims she witnessed aggressive treatment of children that she described as bordering on abuse.
"She yanked a kid to the floor, picked them up, yanked them again. I told her, ‘if I ever see you do that to my child or any child again we are gonna have a problem.’”
This month, the Department of Human Services stepped in. After a lengthy investigation, the DHS found the daycare had committed a couple of significant violations -- specifically, physical abuse of four alleged victims, as well as neglect by failing to report the maltreatment.
A letter confirmed that Bey’s daughter was one of the victims. The daycare was fined $1,200, but Bey doesn’t think that’s enough. She wants the daycare to be shut down because she says “it’s not going to change."
No comment was made available to Fox 9 from the daycare. They have until the end of the month to decide whether to appeal the fine and the state's findings of physical abuse inside the classrooms.