JOURDANTON, Texas – A Jourdanton daycare was cited for multiple deficiencies by state investigators this summer after a 4-year-old boy was ordered to stand on his tiptoes while squatting for up to 30 minutes as punishment, Texas Health and Human Services records show.
Shining Stars Daycare Center in the 1600 block of Simmons Avenue was cited in early June for rules violations related to prohibited punishments, the responsibility of caregivers to demonstrate competency, good judgment or self-control and positive methods of discipline and guidance, according to state records.
Reached for comment, Shining Stars’ owner declined to say how long the four-year-old was forced to stand on his tiptoes or whether the staff member involved still works at the child care facility.
“And then I cry.”
Jessica Herschlip said she noticed changes in her son’s demeanor at home and she and her husband began to receive complaints about his behavior at the daycare “that didn’t seem like his behavior.”
The boy later told his parents that he was taken out of his classroom and ordered by an employee to stand in a “tummy squat on his tiptoes.”
Herschlip recorded footage on her cell phone of her husband asking her son to demonstrate the punishment.
“And they make you stand like that? Do they make you stand like that for a long time?” the boy’s father asks him in the footage.
“And then I cry,” the boy replies.
Herschlip described her son as a “wild child” and said he has been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
The boy “was asked during time out to stand still on tape on the floor for about four minutes to approximately 30 minutes,” HHSC records show.
Herschlip said she removed her son from the care of the facility after learning what he had endured.
“It hurts and it gets me angry because it’s not appropriate for him to be disciplined or any child to be disciplined in that manner, no matter what they do,” said Herschlip.
The boy’s aunt, Lina Moreno, told KSAT it was common for daycare staff to isolate her nephew from his classmates.
“I would go to pick him up and he would never be in his class,” said Moreno, who eventually filed multiple complaints against Shining Stars with a state abuse hotline.
Moreno, who has since removed two of her own children from the care of the facility, said she had previously expressed concerns to staff about the cleanliness of the buildings.
Moreno’s then-18-month-old son contracted a virus in May and was hospitalized.
Moreno shared pictures with KSAT, provided by a daycare employee, showing bottles marked clean that were still caked with dried milk or formula.
KSAT is not aware of any evidence indicating the conditions at the daycare caused her son’s virus, and sanitary concerns were not among the deficiencies cited by state investigators in early June.
The facility had zero violations in its six previous inspections, state records show.
“They were here three weeks in a row.”
Shining Stars’ owner said state investigators made multiple unannounced visits to her facility after the complaints were made to the abuse hotline.
“They did their investigation. And that’s what they found. They were here three weeks in a row. They’re unannounced. We have no idea they are coming. And that’s really all I can say,” the owner told KSAT.
She declined to confirm to KSAT how long the boy was forced to stand on his tiptoes and did not address whether the employee involved in that incident still works at her facility.
She added that there are “two sides to everything,” but said she would not comment further until she spoke with her attorney.
The owner did confirm that a staff member had not cleaned bottles properly, but that the issue has been “taken care of.”
Reached for comment, a Texas Health and Human Services spokeswoman told KSAT via email, “Our top priority at HHSC is the health and safety of children in the child care operations we regulate. HHSC inspects operations, evaluates compliance and investigates alleged violations of minimum standards, gives technical assistance on how to comply with minimum standards and takes enforcement action when warranted. The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) conducts abuse/neglect investigations of child care operations. They then communicate their findings to HHSC (the licensing entity), and we determine whether the operation complied with state Minimum Standards.”
She referred additional inquiries from KSAT to DFPS, which had already referred KSAT to HHSC for comment a day earlier, since HHSC is the state entity that now handles daycare compliance complaints.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.