Taupō family left upset after childcare centre ends four-year-old’s enrolment

A Taupō family says a disagreement over childcare fees and attendance arrangements has ended with their four-year-old daughter being removed from the early learning centre she had attended for 18 months, Stuff's Tony Wall has reported. 

Stuff report mentions, Radha Baldeo-Gregg said her daughter, Kiara, had attended Busy Bees in Taupō for about 18 months before the enrolment was ended in July.

The dispute arose after Baldeo-Gregg questioned charges on her account and requested what she described as a “minor adjustment” to Kiara’s attendance hours during the school holidays.

Busy Bees said the decision followed an incident involving “behaviour related to an objection over payment of part of [an] invoice”.

The company said it had reviewed the incident and concluded that Baldeo-Gregg’s behaviour towards staff was inappropriate and aggressive, and had created an environment where employees did not feel safe.

“The decision to end the enrolment was not made lightly. It followed a review by senior leaders and was based on our assessment that a safe and constructive relationship with the parent could no longer be maintained.

“Families are welcome to query any charge, but we expect those conversations to be conducted respectfully.

“The parent was given opportunities to raise her concerns directly with Busy Bees, and senior members of our organisation communicated with the family before the final decision was confirmed.

“We understand that the ending of an enrolment can be upsetting for a family. However, we will not compromise the safety and wellbeing of our people," Stuff quoted.

Baldeo-Gregg disputes the centre’s characterisation of the incident. She acknowledged raising her voice while speaking with a receptionist about attendance hours and charges, but denied behaving aggressively or creating an unsafe environment.

“It wasn't inappropriate, it didn't happen in front of the children, it happened at the reception.

“I was just raising a question, why am I over-charged?," she told Stuff.

She said the disagreement escalated after a team leader joined the conversation and interrupted her.

When she says a team leader joined the discussion and interrupted, “all I said was, ‘hold on, let me finish’ … they’re saying I said ‘shut up’, but I never said that.”

Baldeo-Gregg said the centre had accused her of using “intimidating” body language, raising her voice and telling a staff member to “shut up”.

She said the allegations were never properly put to her before the decision was made.

In a complaint to the Ministry of Education, Baldeo-Gregg said she had not been interviewed or asked to provide a statement before the enrolment was terminated.

Her complaint said she was not given “or given a meaningful opportunity to respond to the allegations before the decision was communicated to our family”.

She also said she had been refused copies of statements and incident reports used in the decision and had not been told which specific contractual or policy provision she had allegedly breached.

The following day, Baldeo-Gregg and her husband, Damon, received two weeks’ notice that Kiara’s enrolment would end.

AccordinBaldeo-Gregg told the ministry that the decision had disrupted her daughter’s continuity of care and learning environment, as well as her sense of belonging.

“As parents, we are now faced with explaining to a young child why she can no longer attend the centre where she has formed friendships and become familiar with the people and environment around her,” Baldeo-Gregg wrote.

“This has been distressing for our family, and we are concerned about the impact that the sudden removal from a familiar setting may have on Kiara's emotional wellbeing, sense of security, and overall transition into her next stage of learning.”

The Ministry of Education said it had conducted a “desktop assessment” using information and documents provided by Busy Bees.

It said enrolment agreements were contractual arrangements between early learning providers and parents, and the early childhood regulations did not require centres to consult parents before ending an enrolment.

The ministry said its role was to determine whether regulatory and licensing requirements had been met and that it found no breach in this case.

Robert Nicholl, the ministry’s acting director of education for Bay of Plenty Waiariki, said the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 did not prevent a centre from removing a child from its roll.

“The enrolment agreement is between the centre and the parent and early learning services have their own policies and procedures relating to enrolments,” he said.

Nicholl said the ministry assessed whether early learning services were complying with regulations and licensing criteria.

“We recognise that families may have concerns when a child's enrolment ends. If parents disagree with a centre's decision, they should use the centre's complaints process.”

Parents could also raise concerns with their local Education office if they believed an early childhood service was failing to meet its licensing requirements.

“In this case, the ministry found there was insufficient evidence to establish a breach of the licensing criteria in relation to the decision-making process for terminating the enrolment," as quoted by Stuff. 

Baldeo-Gregg said the ministry’s response had instead raised “serious concerns” for her.

“It feels as though both the centre and the ministry have been able to avoid accountability simply because the regulatory framework is narrow — not because the practice was appropriate or ethical,” she told Stuff.

She said the centre could have taken other steps if it believed her behaviour was inappropriate.

“They could have given us options, but they didn’t give us any options and just went to termination. That’s what hurt the most - what did Kiara do?”

Baldeo-Gregg said Kiara had since been enrolled at another early childhood centre and was due to start school soon.