CASE STUDY:
Lack of supervision tops list of complaints

By Andrew Garber
Staff Writer

The state gets more than 300 complaints annually about day-care operators. The most common complaint: day-care providers aren't watching the children.

State inspectors call it lack of supervision. That may not sound serious, but it has been a factor in incidents of abuse, neglect and injuries in day-care operations.

A state investigation found that when Adam Johnston was injured at Sharon Cieslak's day-care home in Windham on June 20, 1995, Cieslak was not properly supervising him.

Johnston, who was 2 years old, slid under a lawnmower at her home on that date. The mower blades sliced through his lower right leg. The injuries were so severe that the leg had to be amputated at mid-calf, according to court records.

A state investigation found that Cieslak's son went out that morning to mow the lawn. He took the toddler with him to give the child a ride on the lawnmower, state records show.

Cieslak says she knew Adam and another day-care child were with her son, who was 13 years old, but she felt comfortable with that. Cieslak said she did not know her son planned to cut the grass.

Outside the house, Cieslak's son put Adam on the back of the mower. The toddler stood on an attached shelf and held onto Cieslak's son's shoulders, according to state records.

Cieslak said her son rode the lawnmower across the yard and had to stop because there was a hose in the way. He asked a child in the yard to move the hose, and the toddler climbed down to help, she said.

Her son backed up the lawnmower ''and the little guy ran back to hop on and slid under,'' she said. ''It was a tragic accident.''

State law requires day-care children to be ''supervised by a child care staff member who is aware of and responsible for the ongoing activity of each child and who is near enough to the child to intervene when needed.''

The Department of Human Services concluded that Cieslak was not properly supervising the children.

Cieslak disagrees.

''I think they had to find something,'' she said in a recent interview. ''When you have seven or eight children, you are supposed to be within so many feet of each one. When you have that many, that is an impossibility.''

Although DHS found that Cieslak was not watching day-care children properly, it took no action against her.

Garnett Johnston, the father of the boy who was injured, said the state should have done more.

Johnston said he had to hire an attorney to get records from the state about the incident. That's how he learned no disciplinary action was taken, he said.

''She was given a slap on the wrist and keeps on going and her life has not changed,'' Johnston said. ''They (DHS) should have done something and they did not do anything. She shouldn't have been allowed to go right back into business.''

Johnston and his wife filed a lawsuit against Cieslak in 1996. The case was settled that year for $1 million, according to court records.