Parents disagree on situation at Victorum daycare

CELINA - Six families who currently have or have had children enrolled at Victorum Learning Center spoke with The Daily Standard about their thoughts and experiences with the daycare center.

The parents agreed that abuse and misconduct is inexcusable and that the center would benefit from additional oversight, accountability and communication.

But the agreements largely stop there. Many parents whose children no longer go to the daycare believe the center should be shut down. Other parents think the program needs a complete overhaul or new owners.

At the same time, several parents with children still attending Victorum say the center has made significant improvements and they want to put the past behind them.

They also say they are growing increasingly concerned for the safety of staff and students at Victorum as other families harass them for continuing to send their children to the child care center.

One parent whose child no longer attends Victorum acknowledged a family member received a warning from the Mercer County Sheriff's Office on Friday for trespassing on the property and confronting staff members about alleged abuse.

Most families spoke or submitted statements to The Daily Standard on the condition of anonymity. Many parents with children still at the daycare center fear harassment from other parents. Parents whose children no longer attend Victorum worry about finding new child care providers. Some mentioned seeking court action against the daycare.

The Daily Standard is in talks with Victorum leadership to schedule an interview later this week. The director of communications for Victorum was told this story would be published today.

Under Investigation

The child care center, located at 6783 Staeger Road, Celina, was formerly Kids Kastle before it was purchased by Victorum Learning Center in October 2022.

Victorum is owned by Vince Pecoraro, a Dayton-area U.S. Air Force civil servant, real estate agent and investor who said he fell into the businesses by taking over a child care facility his children attended in 2017 after the tenant failed to make payroll.

Victorum has four locations, three of which are based in Dayton. Loren Nelson Sr. is the director of operations for all locations.

The child care center has been heavily scrutinized and parents have been outraged after substantiated allegations of abuse have surfaced in addition to staff shortages and operational issues.

A report from June 28 by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services states Mercer County Child Protective Services has substantiated that a child care staff member had abused, endangered or neglected a child. The report said Victorum Learning Center did not notify Mercer County CPS of suspicions that a child had been abused or neglected.

The Mercer County Sheriff's Office has submitted a report to county prosecutor Erin Minor. Minor confirmed she is reviewing the report to consider charges.

In addition, families were incensed after the daycare minimized its services in order to continue operating. Parents were notified around 7 p.m. July 22 that the center had "received a handful of no notice resignations," according to emails Victorum sent to parents, which were shared with The Daily Standard.

As a result, the number of available spots in all ages groups was slashed, part-time care was removed, families with outstanding balances were disenrolled, and the remaining families were put on a waitlist. Spot availability was determined randomly, according to the email.

Parents had until noon the next day to express interest in attending, giving them less than 24 hours to find alternate care or decide whether to leave or stay.

"I want consequences."

Many parents said they believe that issues at Victorum aren't systemic. Rather, they say that one or two employees ruined the experience for other staff, and lack of support from Victorum headquarters caused existing issues to spiral out of control.

Briana Whitney, 28, of St. Marys had been sending her children to Kids Kastle for years before the child care center was purchased by Victorum in October 2022. Her two children, ages 7 and 3, loved their teachers and the friends they made.

Whitney said her first red flag was the immediate increase in prices after the takeover. The cost of services at the center doubled under the new ownership, she said, adding that Victorum quickly backtracked on the increase.

Nelson at the time held a town hall-style meeting with parents after the price increase. He had said he considered quitting after seeing the new rates.

Although prices still increased, the rates weren't nearly as high as initially proposed, and Nelson said the increase would contribute to raises and increased benefits to attract and retain employees.

Whitney and other parents said the raises and benefits promised to staff never materialized.

After Victorum's takeover, Whitney said many long-time staff at Kids Kastle began to leave. She said her son came home with unexplained marks and bruises. He began exhibiting behavioral issues, becoming overly clingy, screaming and not wanting her to leave when she dropped him off at the daycare center.

"I thought it was just an attachment issue," she said.

Shortly after the exodus of staff around July 21, Whitney said she received a message from a former teacher who said her son had been hit by another staff member and that an incident report was never filed. She said she asked Nelson about the issue and was reportedly told he was unaware of the incident.

Whitney said she then talked with other parents and former staff who shared that they, too, believed there had been mismanagement and potential abuse and that the issues had gone unreported to parents and the proper authorities.

"I thought my son was the only one. Now I just want there to be consequences," she said.

Like many families, Whitney said her family was put on the waitlist. She said she had to call family members to help take care of her kids, and she's still figuring out child care on a week-to-week basis.

Another mother from St. Marys who spoke on the condition of anonymity said her family was on the waitlist and have yet to be reimbursed by Victorum.

The 28-year-old said she was part of the parent committee, which had about 16 parents on board that would bring parent questions and issues to Nelson's attention.

She said the committee began raising questions in May or June as teachers began to leave. Her 3 1/2-year-old son also had behavioral issues and would come home with unexplained bruises.

The mother said things came to a head in mid-July when experienced staff members quit. She said staff had been promised raises, health insurance and paid time off, none of which happened.

While she said that Victorum headquarters should be held responsible, she acknowledged that all staff at child care facilities are mandatory reporters and that suspicion of abuse or neglect should have been immediately reported to child protective services.

"We wanted to be informed about what's going on, and we're having to ask our kids," she said. "If you knew people were hitting or dragging kids, even if you're short staffed, they should be fired. It feels like both the employees and Victorum Learning Center should be held responsible."

The mother said her family was put on a waitlist and then disenrolled after not making the cut. She and her husband would alternate taking time off from work to watch the kids. She said she watches the kids from home sometimes during the week when she has telework capabilities and is taking steps to enroll her son in another daycare.

Terra Bruggeman, whose 3-year-old son attended Victorum from January through mid-July, said she pulled her son from the center after the child abuse allegations came to light.

She said her son began having behavioral issues at home shortly after he moved classrooms in May.

"He would throw things, hit, try to bite, would not sit in time out anymore without freaking out," she said in an email on Friday. "My husband and I didn't know why his behavior was getting so extreme but worked with him to correct this. These didn't subside fully until he stopped going to the daycare in July."

Bruggeman says on June 5 she noticed a bruise developing and swelling around his eye and that staff didn't mention any injury or incident when she picked him up. She said his teacher, in a conversation relayed through the administrator, said that he must have fallen from the playground ladder and hit his eye.

On June 23, she said he came home with an unexplained bite mark that she didn't notice until bath time. Bruggeman said she was not informed of the incident and no report was filed.

At the same time, Bruggeman said her mother went to Victorum on Wednesday and confronted a teacher. She said her mother was "upset about the whole situation and crying" and eventually "left on her own accord."

Bruggeman said a deputy from the sheriff's office gave her mother a warning on Friday for trespassing at Victorum. Bruggeman said the deputy told her mother that she had made staff feel "concerned and scared."

"She was outside speaking with the staff, and they had every opportunity to go back inside and call law enforcement then if they were so truly concerned but they did not," she said in the email.

The other side

Parents with children still enrolled at Victorum say they are trying to move on and put the past behind them - but angry parents and community members won't let them.

All of the parents with children still enrolled at the daycare center spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation and harassment from other parents.

A Celina mother of a 2-year-old still enrolled at Victorum said her child had some behavioral changes starting in June. She was enraged to learn her son may have been verbally abused, and she said she is weighing her options for what to do next. For the time being, her son will stay at Victorum due to a lack of affordable, available child care in the area.

While still wary, the mother said she believes leaders at Victorum are taking the necessary steps to get the daycare back on track. A staff member who has been accused or suspected of child abuse no longer works at Victorum, which she said makes her feel better.

She noted that child care employees are obligated to report suspected abuse to the proper authorities, even if they are told not to worry about it or told not to report it by a supervisor or other staff.

"Child care staff are mandatory reporters and it was their responsibility to stop and report abuse. I think the ball was dropped by more than one person and it could have been prevented," she said.

The mother said she would like to see more clarity from state inspection reports of the daycare, which she said are confusing and vague. She said it seems Victorum is heading in the right direction, and that progress is dependent on hiring credible and capable employees who are there for the right reasons. She also said additional support from Victorum headquarters would go a long way, including sending emploees from Dayton on days when the Celina location is short staffed.

"You're handing over a part of your life to someone every day," she said. "There's a lot of anger about the abuse and waitlist and I completely understand, but there's also not a lot of child care in the area, so hopefully people come back to support the new people. I don't think we should let a few bad people take awary child care from the rest of the community."

Another 34-year-old mother from St. Marys with two children enrolled said her children began attending Kids Kastle six years ago. She said the transition was tough but seemed to be smoothed over until the past few months. Communication within the center seemed to deteriorate, leading to heightened stress levels and a sense of chaos, she said.

Still, the mother said she believes Victorum is on the right track and that the new administrators and staff genuinely care for the safety, wellbeing and happiness of the children.

"Instead of hoping for the center's downfall, I hope the community is able to contribute positively to its recovery," she said in an email on Aug. 15. "If I had any doubt about my children's safety at Victorum, you can be assured I would absolutely not still have them enrolled there."

Now, the mother said parents who still have their children enrolled are the subject of vitriolic commentary on social media and in person.

"I very much understand everyone's concern over the abuse investigations, but it's starting to become an alarming mob mentality," she said in an update on Thursday. She said she was alarmed when a teacher told her someone had confronted other staff members on Wednesday.

Another mother from Celina with a preschooler and upcoming kindergartener at the center said her children have received quality care from Victorum and Kids Kastle for four and a half years. She said the bad experiences she's had have largely stemmed from other parents.

"When the change of ownership took place, many parents basically rioted over the proposed price increases," she said in an email on Aug. 16. "I agree they were egregious, but the administration listened and came down considerably from what was originally proposed… Personally, I think many of the parents never truly forgave them for that."

The mother said there is no excuse for tolerating abusive behavior from staff. She said those accused or suspected of abuse no longer work at the daycare center, a new director is in place and additional training and screening has been implemented.

"It was sad to see so many wonderful staff members leave because of all the drama that is being so publicly played out. The media and the community - most of whom have absolutely nothing to do with Victorum - continue to make this worse by fueling public outrage, all stemming from, to my knowledge, one staff member," she said. "The few of us families who are left at the center - and those still waiting to come back - would like to be able to move forward in peace, and we can't do that if this 'community' continues to try to chase away potential good staff members."