A Northern Virginia daycare worker has been fired for allegedly tying a student to a chair during lunch last month.
According to the Virginia Department of Social Services, the staffer used a thin blanket to tie a 21-month-old child to a chair at VINCI School Alexandria North.
It happened around 11:40 a.m. Aug. 13 in a junior toddler classroom, the report said.
The child was eating lunch and not hurting themselves or anyone else, the report said. The educator confirmed they tied the child to a chair with a blanket because the child “threw food on the floor and moved from the table while eating,” the report said.
The daycare worker confirmed they didn’t use redirection to get the child to sit in the chair during lunchtime.
WTOP has contacted the Vinci School for comment.
Local news site ALXNow was first to report the incident.
The worker involved in the incident was fired immediately, the report said. The educator said they “did not tie the blanket strong (sic) around the child.”
The lead teacher, who the report found didn’t untie the child from the chair, received a write up and was reminded about “duty to report incidents.”
The daycare has a prohibited practices policy that includes confining a child to a chair, car seat or stroller for discipline or instead of supervision.
An Alexandria police spokeswoman said the agency is aware of the incident, and that detectives reviewed it and determined it to be a violation of daycare policy but “no criminal activity was involved. There is no active investigation at this time.”
An incident could be reported to Child Protective Services through State Licensing, police said, and at the direction of CPS, it could be referred to police for further investigation.
According to the report, all staff members will be trained again on “duty to report and mandated reporter guidelines, emphasizing that hesitation or uncertainty should never delay a report.”
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