SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — It has been about two weeks since Wildflower Academy in Sioux Falls shut down. Since then, the daycare center’s owner, Ametrea Christion, has been arrested for child abuse.
Wildflower Academy’s child care license has been suspended since October 23, leaving Sioux Falls with one less daycare.
Since its suspension, Learning Ladder Adventures has taken on six kids, but they are still not at capacity.
“We are not full. I could absorb at least 50 tomorrow with our current staff. If I added staff, we’re licensed for 111, and I have 31 here,” Learning Ladder Adventures co-owner Paul Johnson said.
Johnson says there are other centers in Sioux Falls that still have room.
“I watch pretty close, and there aren’t many of the current centers that are completely full. They might be full due to staffing, but not to what their licensed for,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, child care centers will have to re-establish confidence.
“It’s just about earning trust, getting the parents to believe that those situations won’t happen at our or some of the other facilities,” Johnson said.
And Learning Ladder is doing what it can to earn that trust.
“There are good facilities in town where you won’t have the issues we’ve seen over the last two, three years. We specifically opened up because of that. My security is tight, and now, I’m up to about 30 cameras. If there’s a blind spot, I have it covered, and I also let my parents have access to it,” Johnson said.
Johnson also says that some centers in Sioux Falls are operating at 60-70 % capacity, and it takes 80% to break even.
