MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) - Police and state agencies are investigating a Murfreesboro daycare for child mistreatment that involved a teacher.
The Murfreesboro Police Department, Tennessee Department of Human Services, and Tennessee Department of Children’s Services are looking into what took place at Lionheart Children’s Academy last Thursday. Since it is an open investigation, details are limited.
A spokesperson for the Lionheart Children’s Academy inside One Church – Calvary Campus said the academy was made aware of concerns about a teacher last Thursday. According to the spokesperson, the issue was addressed and Lionheart fired that employee.
Murfreesboro Police said that person has not been arrested at this time.
Lionheart said they were made aware on Monday, Apr. 29 that their former employee was being investigated. This came after they said they terminated the employee on Friday Apr. 26.
Parents said they feel in the dark and did not know an incident took place until our reports Thursday morning. One parent said she did get a message from Lionheart that said, “If your child was involved, you’ve been notified” and noticed a lot of teacher turnover.
There have been three DHS violations at Lionheart in the last year, according to DHS records: October 11, 2023, October 27, 2023, and April 29, 2024.
During the April 29 incident, DHS said an observer saw a video of a teacher in a 3 to 4-year-old classroom during which the teacher used harsh language when getting a child out of the bathroom before lunchtime. The teacher reportedly placed her hands on the child’s back and pushed her to sit down, according to DHS.
Lionheart said they are working with law enforcement, and have a high-quality hiring process. They said they require professional and personal references, as well as a background check, prior to consideration.
Here is the school’s full statement on the matter:
“At Lionheart, our commitment to providing a safe environment for every child entrusted into our care has always been and will remain our number one priority. Our dedication to providing the highest quality and standard of care is built into our hiring process which includes professional and personal references and background checks on every employee before they can set foot in a classroom. We were made aware of concerns on Thursday involving a teacher, which we immediately addressed with swift action on Friday after a thorough investigation. We were subsequently made aware of a criminal investigation involving a former employee. This was communicated to us after we completed our internal investigation last Friday and took responsive action based on our own findings. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement as well as state agencies.”
Lionheart Children’s Academy is located in One Church – Calvary Campus but is not affiliated with them.
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