“I have dedicated my entire life to children.” The director of a local preschool named in a child abuse investigation tells SCDN she’s confident that the state and Jackson County Child Protective Services will find no wrongdoing on her part.
According to police records, PPD was contacted by Jackson County CPS on Wednesday morning and asked to assist in the investigation of alleged physical abuse against a child by an employee at Temple Tots Preschool.
When SCDN contacted school director Caroline King for a comment, she was blunt. “The employee is me.” King said she believed in freedom of the press and the public’s right to know whether news is good or bad and was willing to tell her side of the story. “I’m the director, I’m the lead preschool teacher, and I’m the chapel leader for Temple Tots Preschool. I’ve been here for seven years. I am a 35-year veteran of early childhood education.”
She said the investigation stemmed from an incident involving a child with challenging behavior. “I have dedicated my entire life to children. More importantly, challenging behavior children. I raised a child with challenging behavior. It’s very, very difficult.” She said she was fortunate that her child was now a successful adult with a master’s degree. “A lot of challenging behavior children have brilliant minds.”
King said that when she was struggling to raise her daughter, she didn’t have all of the skills to manage the behavior that she has now. “I have dedicated my life to make sure no parent has to go through what I’ve gone through.”
She told SCDN that she’d had a good relationship with the mother and child involved in the complaint for several years. “I care about this mom. I care about this family.”
King said the child in question had a severe meltdown at school on Thursday. “On a Saturday, they (the family) decided to take him to the emergency room. They are accusing me of putting a smelling salt or bath salt in his face, in his nose, or in his eyes.” King strongly denied the accusation, “I wouldn’t even know where to get a smelling salt or a bath salt. It absolutely did not happen. I didn’t even know what a smelling salt was until CPS showed up at my door. It absolutely did not happen.”
She said Temple Tots has an impeccable reputation in the county. “I feel bad for this mom. I love them. But what is being said is completely untrue.”
She said PPD investigated and immediately closed the case. Police records show officers did take an incident report to pass onto Jackson CPS, but no criminal charges were filed.
She said CPS was still investigating and that the state’s daycare license inspector had also paid a visit. “I fully believe I will be found to be completely innocent. I think the best thing we can do is to pray for every parent. Not just this mommy, but every parent with a challenging behavior child.”
King said all teachers at Temple Tots are certified in trauma-informed care. “Every teacher here takes a training on how to handle children of trauma.”
She said the child named in the complaint had an outburst after becoming angry at another student over a toy. The child’s mother took them to their car and asked her to come out and speak to the child and their sibling, who was also upset by the incident. She said the child seemed to have calmed down by then, and she thought everything was okay when the family left. “This has been very hurtful. These types of things happen, but this is my career. With one click of someone’s pen or someone going to CPS and saying untrue things, could end my career. I’m proud of my career and the work that I’ve done.”