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Kid Care Report: Childcare director says violation at center was a "misunderstanding"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The director of Don’t Miss a Beat at Edith Brown Ford Center told Action News Jax anchor Letisha Bereola she’s surprised the Department of Children and Families wrote them up for a class 2 violation.

The center that opened in in 2008 as a music, arts and academic program was said to have two violations in its latest inspection: a class 2 and a class 3 violation.

According to DCF, a class 2 violation could pose a threat to the health and safety of a child.

This violation was for missing background check paperwork for a staff member.

Director Esther Poitier explained to Bereola that the staffer was still being processed and wasn’t working. “When DCF came, we were in the process of completing her hiring packet,” she said.

She also said that staff member wasn’t even at the center yet, but her paperwork was partially filled out.

The background check has since come back clean---and she’ll be working as a music teacher soon.

The second violation was a class 3 violation, which, poses a low potential for harm to a child, DCF stated.

That violation was for a staff member not completing 10 hours of training, but, Poitier said training was complete, but the paperwork wasn’t available at the time.

“I would never ever, absolutely ever, bring anybody into Don’t Miss a Beat that has not been vetted,” Poitier said.

The second day care in this week’s Kid Care Report is New Beginning Daycare on Edgewood Avenue.

The inspector flagged the center for two class 2 violations for the teacher to child ratio being off when a teacher left the classroom to answer the phone. The director also didn’t have a director's credential.

They were back in compliance when another teacher came into the room. Bereola reached out to the center to see if they have a plan in place for getting that director credential.

The day care also received a class 3 violation for a staff member not having 10 hours of in-service training.  We are awaiting to hear back from the center and will post updates here.