Terri’s Little Pumpkins/Facebook
By Bridget Turcotte
REVERE — Terri’s Little Pumpkins daycare facility on Squire Road has been shut down by the state.
The Department of Early Education and Care pulled the group child care program licenses issued to the company because of regulatory, health, safety and transportation violations, in addition to fiscal concerns.
In a statement, EEC said the licenses were revoked “due to their failure to comply with sanctions imposed on their licenses in 2014 and continued violations of state regulations since that time.”
The company has three other daycare centers located in Chelsea, Medford and Somerville. A Winthrop program closed in January 2015, and a second Revere location closed in November 2015.
Terri Bettano, president of the company, did not return calls for comment. Staff at the Revere facility said the center will be closed, effective today, but declined further comment.
A notice signed by Bettano was posted at a few of the centers, stating all locations would close today “as a result of pressure and actions taken by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Early Education and Care.”
The note goes on to say that “this could not be prevented” and “Terri’s Little Pumpkins was forced to make this decision based upon actions of the EEC and other parties only within the last few days.”
A second letter was sent to employees on Monday informing them “without EEC funding, TLP will not be able to meet any of TLP’s financial obligations including TLP’s ability to pay TLP staff … When TLP receives funding from EEC, TLP’s staff will be paid any wages or salaries owed to them at that time.”
To send an infant to Terri’s for one day costs $66. Toddlers cost $60 per day and preschool aged children are $50 per day, according to the company’s website. The fee includes breakfast, lunch and a snack.
But having insufficient food and drink for the children was among violations the daycare was cited for in 2015 and 2016.
The long list of citations also included failure to timely report mandatory incidents to EEC; failure to properly supervise and appropriately interact with children due to staff being on their cellphones; leaving a child unattended on a transportation van; driving a child to the wrong location; utilizing hazardous materials in the classroom; having chipping and peeling paint within the program; and failure to timely pay employees, among other violations.
The state mandated Terri’s to hire a consultant to assist with improving the administration of the programs and create an action plan to address administrative issues in 2014. It was also required to complete specified training, undergo an independent audit of their child care vouchers, and observe a 30-day enrollment freeze in Chelsea, Medford and the Lynnway center, before it closed.
The company failed to fully comply with the requirements and continued receiving citations.
Most of the children have already transferred to new programs, according to the state. The total enrollment capacity across all four licenses is 230 children, but as of Thursday, 37 students remained.
Terri’s has until Oct. 14 to appeal the license revocation order.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
