To Whom it May Concern,
I wanted to write to you about a recent issue in Martinez that seemed to spark a conversation that fell to the wayside.
There was recently a conversation online, about a Transitional Kindergarten classroom at Childtime Martinez in which many parents felt their children were being emotionally abused. In January the state department of licensing came in and cited the teacher of this classroom, Denise McFarlane, for two counts of emotionally abusing the children.
The school claims they have amended any wrong doings but since then two out of the ten families have left and many of the remaining families are feeling torn about leaving their children in incompetent care and having to go to work to support their families in the ever-expensive Bay Area.
A search on Yelp reveals that there have been reports of physical and emotional abuse at this same daycare dating years back. Parents who remained at the daycare say their children are coming home in urine soaked clothing, reporting instances of isolation, shame, and humility.
The issue I am trying to highlight as a frustrated parent is two-fold. One, why are we not more conscious about emotional abuse, with everything we, as a society, are learning about mental health, school shootings, and child development. It’s been so difficult- if not impossibly to get any accountability.
Second, this is a small town. A lot of the growth we are seeing in Martinez is from families where parents commute to the city and are hoping to raise their children in an idealist suburb. Has anyone taken into account what the long-term effects are of having emotionally abused children going into our public schools?
I hope we can do some justice here because our youth deserve it. We all do.
– Kat Russo
