Busy Bee Learning Academy under investigation, Newbound appealing suspension of license

By Neal A. Johnson, UD Editor
Posted 4/6/22

Busy Bee Learning Academy of Linn will continue to operate on a limited basis as owner Tonya Newbound appeals Friday’s suspension of the daycare’s license.

Following a complaint last …

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Busy Bee Learning Academy under investigation, Newbound appealing suspension of license

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Busy Bee Learning Academy of Linn will continue to operate on a limited basis as owner Tonya Newbound appeals Friday’s suspension of the daycare’s license.

Following a complaint last Wednesday, an investigation was launched by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which oversees the licensing of such providers, and the Osage County Sheriff’s Office.

According to DESE Chief Communications Officer Mallory McGowin, the owner and operator of the Busy Bee Learning Academy was informed on Friday that their childcare license was being immediately suspended while DESE’s Office of Childhood (OCC) investigates the complaint.

A hand-delivered letter of suspension noted that “OOC staff conducted a complaint investigation that determined that you and your staff administer unknown medications to children in your care to calm them at naptime. These actions demonstrate that you, Tonya Newbound, d/b/a Busy Bee Learning Academy, are unwilling or unable to provide a safe environment for children.”

Further noted in the suspension letter is the allegation that Newbound is “giving children gummies at naptime for the children that can chew them and giving a powder in the milk of children that can’t chew.”

On March 30, Compliance Inspector (CI) Stephanie Spaulding and Program Coordinator (PC) Caron Ahlemeyer initiated the investigation of the facility. Upon arrival, children in the two-year-old’s room were eating lunch and the preschool room was preparing for lunch. 

“CI Spaulding and PC Ahlemeyer observed three mounds of gummies (approximately 23) in the window sill of the kitchen at Busy Bee Learning Academy,” it was noted in the suspension letter. “Photos were taken at the time of inspection. Each time the cook left the kitchen to deliver foods to other classrooms, the door was left open to the kitchen and the gummies were accessible to children.”

According to DESE documents, Spaulding and Ahlemeyer interviewed caregiver Emily Dodson, who said that Newbound is aware that there are gummies in the kitchen and brings the gummies into the building every day. Dodson said she does not know what the gummies are but was told by Newbound that they are lavender candy gumdrops.

Dodson further told DESE investigators that the gummies are in the kitchen because Newbound will give one to every child for being good before nap time, and claimed that the gummies are candy. “The gummies are treats that are given to the children right before or after lunch for being good,” she told investigators, adding that sometimes Newbound will give the kids one piece of Sweet Tart candy right before nap time if they are good.

Dodson indicated she was told by Newbound to give the gummies to the kids every day and she trusts that Newbound would not have her give the kids something they shouldn’t have.

Caregiver Kayla Brodin in an interview with investigators said that she does not add anything other than formula or breast milk to the infant’s bottles. There is a milk thickener provided by the parent that is added to a child’s bottle.

Brodin said she is aware that Dodson and Newbound give the children gumdrops before lunch but noted she has never seen the bottle and does not know what the gumdrops really are. However, she doesn’t think the parents have given permission for the gumdrops. Brodin indicates she thinks “they are melatonin gummies but doesn’t want to lose her job” for saying that.

Caregiver Brianna Bock said that she is aware that Dodson and Newbound give the children in the other preschool rooms gumdrops before lunch. She works only in the infant room and no gumdrops are given to children there. Like Brodin, Bock said she has never seen the bottle and does not know what the gumdrops really are. She doesn’t think the parents have given permission for the gumdrops and said she thinks “they are melatonin gummies,” but likewise doesn’t want to lose her job for saying that.

An unidentified caregiver whose child attends Busy Bee Learning Academy informed investigators that she was told by Newbound that the gummy drops are lavender. She admitted to giving gummies to children once but would not do it again, adding that now, either Dodson or Newbound hand out the gummies.

This parent said she was told that the gummies were used “for calming the children down,” and they were given after lunch and before nap. Newbound calls the gummies a treat, according to the parent, who said these gummies are given to the children every day. She has never seen the container in which the gummies come and does not know what they really are; further, she thinks they are melatonin gummies but doesn’t want to lose her job for saying that.

As the investigation continued, Walgreens Pharmacy Technician Erin Backes noted that on Thursday, March 24, a parent came into the pharmacy with her child, who was about four years old.

According to Backes, the parent stated that their child informed them that they “have to take a gummy bear every day at daycare and if they don’t take a nap, they get powder on their tongue and then if they still don’t nap, they have to sit in the closet until naptime is over,” and the parent stated that the daycare was Busy Bee Learning Academy in Linn.

The parent had the gummy and showed it to Backes, as well as to Pharmacist Kevin Dudenhoeffer, who informed the parent that it appeared to be a five-milligram melatonin gummy. He and the parent walked around the pharmacy and looked at the melatonin gummies. The gummy the parent possessed looked identical to Walgreens’ brand of melatonin gummies. Dudenhoeffer indicated he did not know for sure it was a melatonin gummy without it being tested and he does not have any way to test it at the pharmacy. Neither could he confirm the dosage.

The parent indicated that her child told her that the older children at the daycare get a gummy at naptime and the younger children get a powder on their tongue.

The parent also stated that her child said that if they do not take a nap, “they have to go into the cold room, which is like a closet until naptime is over.”

Backes could also identify that this appeared to be a five-milligram melatonin gummy and told investigators that “she is aware of this daycare around town and that the daycare is known to do shady things.”

Another parent, also unidentified by DESE, said she had reason to believe that staff was giving her one-year-old child a melatonin gummy at naptime. A concerned staff member, also a parent with a child in Newbound’s care, was upset and told the daycare owner about it. The child is in the “one’s room” and has been attending Busy Bee Learning Academy since she was two months old.

She told Newbound that she was upset about this situation and Newbound sent a message to all parents letting them know that the state (DESE) would be calling because she was giving the children lavender and calming drops without authorization.

Newbound didn’t mention any medications such as the Elderberry, Magnesium, or ZzzQuil gummies, examples she provided to investigators. The upset parent indicated she told Newbound not to give her child anything that she has not authorized, and “Ms. Tonya got irritated and walked away from her following this conversation.”

This parent has one of the gummies and she planned to take it to the pharmacy and have them tell her what it contains.

An unidentified third parent, also a caregiver at the facility, told authorities that she would not authorize her child to be given a gummy and did not know what they contained. Her child is 14 months of age, and a gummy is a choking hazard.

This parent indicated that Newbound told her Vitamin D powder is given to children who can’t swallow but she hasn’t seen Newbound give out the power in a while.

She believes the powder is stored at Newbound’s home and that it is something Newbound would mix in the children’s regular milk after dissolving two tablets in water.

The parent noted that Newbound comes to the facility daily at about 10:30 a.m. from her home to give the gummies and powder to the children. Newbound is in and out of the facility, according to the caregiver.

Upset at the situation, the parent went to the Osage County Sheriff’s Office and spoke directly to the captain.

The sheriff’s office took the gummy and deputies indicated they plan to run tests on it. The pharmacy matched it to a 10-milligram melatonin gummy. This parent took a gummy herself during naptime and it made her really tired but told investigators that no children are put in a closet for not sleeping at nap time.

During an interview with Newbound, she was asked to look up the brand of gummy medication she gives the children and Newbound displayed on her cellphone three different bottles: one bottle of Equate Children’s Black Elderberry Gummies, one bottle of Chapter One Magnesium Men, Women, & Kids Gummies, and one bottle of Vicks ZzzQuil Pure Zzzs Restorative Herbal Sleep. Investigators noted that the gummies displayed on the bottles were different colors and did not look like the gummies found in the kitchen.

Newbound responded to this by saying those gummies and brands are not exactly what she is giving the children. She indicated she is giving the children “something like those gummies shown but she does not know what exactly she is giving the children.” Newbound noted she is giving them whatever gummy she can find to calm them down at nap time.

Newbound told investigators that the gummies she gives children are lavender candy gumdrops that are herbal supplements. She gives the children the gummies at lunchtime because the lavender is supposed to help the children sleep. She has not talked to any parents about giving lavender to help the children sleep and she does not have permission from any parent, nor does she have the bottle that the gummies came in because those observed during the inspection were the last they currently have on hand. 

Further, Newbound admitted that she did not have permission or medication authorization forms from any parent to give gummies to the children.

Newbound said that nothing she gives the children contains melatonin or CBD. 

According to the suspension letter, Newbound said she “did not see anywhere in the rule book that she could not do this, so she thought that it was okay,” adding, “I must be ignorant; I thought these things were just like candy”.

Ahlemeyer asked Newbound if she would continue giving medication to the children in care without parental permission, to which Newbound responded, “I won’t give them herbal supplements but I will not say that I won’t give them medication because I don’t believe that herbal supplements are medication.”

There are specific child care licensing rules that pertain to the administration of medications in child care facilities:

— 5 CSR 25-500.192(3)(B) states: “All medication shall be given to a child only with the dated, written permission of the parent(s) stating the length of time medication may be given.”

— 5 CSR 25-500.192(3)(D) states: “All nonprescription medication shall be in the original container and labeled by the parent(s) with the child’s name, and instructions for administration, including the times and amounts for dosages.”

— 5 CSR 25-500.082(1)(I) states: “All flammable liquids, matches, cleaning supplies, poisonous materials, medicines, alcoholic beverages, hazardous personal care items or other hazardous items shall be inaccessible to children.”

— 5 CSR 25-500.192(3)(E) states: “All medication shall be stored out of reach of children or in a locked container.”

The owner/operator of Busy Bee Learning Academy has 10 days to appeal this immediate suspension. Per state law, a child care provider is not permitted to care for more than six children without a license from DESE.

The complaint reportedly came from an employee of the daycare late last week. When the sheriff’s office began investigating, they found that DESE had already begun an investigation. 

“This is an active investigation that we are taking very seriously since it involves children,” said Sheriff Mike Bonham. “At this time, there is no indication that a crime has been committed but the investigation continues. The decision to suspend Busy Bee’s license is administrative.”

Busy Bee Learning Academy has been licensed by DESE since Aug. 4, 1999, and has been in business since 1994.

Busy Bee’s current license was issued by DESE on Aug. 28, 2021, and allowed the daycare provider to care for 73 children, ages one month to 13 years, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The license is further limited to no more than 11 children under 24 months of age.

At the time of the suspension on Friday, DESE officials remained on-site until only six children remained at the daycare.

Newbound confirmed on Monday that she plans to continue operations while the suspension is being appealed to the Administrative Hearing Commission.

Newbound did not offer further comment.