The Durango Community Recreation Center is on probation with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood after two children went missing for about 30 minutes during a Gametime day care program on July 28.
A Durango Parks and Recreation incident report obtained by The Durango Herald in a records request described how Gametime staff members realized two 6-year-old boys were missing and the resulting search that led to the boys being found safe and unstressed nine blocks south at Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.
“The Department recently completed its investigation of the incident and the city has entered an agreement with the state to continue operating childcare programs for the next nine months on a probationary status,” Scott McClain, Parks and Recreation director, said in a letter to Gametime families also shared by the city in a news release. “During the probationary period, city programs will be required to follow additional requirements prescribed by the state.”
According to the incident report, two boys were part of a 5-year-old cohort and were playing on a playground around 10:10 a.m. July 28 when a Gametime staff member placed them in a two-minute timeout for cursing. Five minutes later, a Gametime staff leader called for all children to gather for a snack.
When the children gathered at 10:15 a.m., staff members performed a head count and realized the two boys were missing. Two other boys from an older cohort informed staff members at 10:20 a.m. they saw the two younger boys walking toward the La Plata County Fairgrounds. Two staff members were immediately sent in that direction to search for the children, according to the report. All Gametime staff members were notified by radio at 10:22 a.m. that a search was underway.
Durango Police Department Officer Kaden Taulli and Sgt. David Cunningham began their own search even earlier – at 10:14 a.m. – after receiving a report of two approximately 5-year-old children walking south on the sidewalk from 25th Street and Main Avenue, a police report obtained by the Herald said.
He came across Gametime staff member Alison Wilder, who told him the boys had left the playground. One boy was wearing a blue shirt and the other a black shirt. The children’s parents were notified and were on their way to the Durango Community Recreation Center to meet with Gametime staff members, the report said.
Durango Police Sgt. David Cunningham found the boys at Wendy’s. They left Gametime “because they wanted Wendy’s for lunch,” the report said.
Cunningham said in the report he began his search near 1500 Main Ave. and worked his way north. He drove by Viles Park at 245 East Park Ave. without seeing the children and headed back toward Main Avenue. A resident flagged him down and reported she saw two unaccompanied children at the Wendy’s.
Cunningham drove to Wendy’s and found the boys standing on the sidewalk with two Gametime employees. Alexi Yi, Gametime director, arrived shortly after, running to meet the group.
The Parks and Recreation incident report said the boys were discovered by Gametime staff members at 10:50 a.m. The boys’ parents picked them up at Wendy’s and spoke with police.
Both of the boys said it was one of the boy’s idea to leave Gametime to get lunch at Wendy’s. The boy’s parents withdrew him from Gametime as a consequence for wandering off, the report said. The other boy was suspended from Gametime for two days, with a meeting about a behavior plan pending at that time.
Gametime Supervisor Donitza Ivanovich reported the incident to La Plata County Department of Human Services that evening, the report said.
After the incident, Gametime held an all-staff meeting in which directors reiterated that children must be supervised at all times – that means “children must remain within direct line of sight, even if their whereabouts is known, and that boundaries must be clearly communicated to children after each transition to a new location,” according to a Department of Early Childhood report of inspection.
Staff members discussed new systems to ensure rule-consistent enforcement and supervision, including triangulation, staff dispersal and having one staff member at a picnic table at all times, the report said. Additionally, materials to repair holes in a playground fence were ordered and maintenance was requested.
Two lead Gametime supervisors received written warnings, and directors emphasized that the incident cannot happen again, the report said. The Gametime handbook was updated to be more clear about supervision policies.
The Department of Early Childhood offered the Recreation Center a nine-month probationary term, which the city accepted on Dec. 22. It notified parents and legal guardians of children enrolled in Gametime via a letter.
The terms of probation included 28 terms mandating the Recreation Center not exceed its licensed capacity of 100 children ages 5 to 16 years old; that required staff-to-child ratios be maintained at all times; and that staff members undergo specific training and background checks, among other items.
City spokesman Tom Sluis said the city is required to abide by the terms set forth by the Department of Early Childhood for the next nine months. If conditions are not met at the end of that period, a reassessment will determine what additional actions, if any, are necessary.
“There is not a cut-and-dry requirement that if any of the conditions are not met in any capacity that it means an automatic revocation of our child care license,” he said. “Given the actions we took internally immediately after the incident happened, our willingness to work with the state, and the transparency within which we have approached this, it is unlikely that anything will happen at the end of the nine months other than the end of the probationary period.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
