An Egg Harbor Township woman accused of assaulting two toddlers while she worked at a Galloway Township daycare was released after her first appearance Tuesday.
Price worked for the academy for seven years, receiving more than 300 hours of documented trainings, according to a message the owners sent to parents and staff Monday.
“This has hit me as a shock,” the message signed “The Palmer Family” reads.
Liz and Femi Palmer own the center, with most communication coming from Liz Palmer.
“This is a reminder and call to action that working with kids is not easy and staff selections and training is of utmost importance,” the statement reads. “That being said, we have to remember that the last few years have been hard with mental health and stress management, and as a school we must remain vigilant and be watch keepers of the children and never relax.”
Price turned herself in with her attorney Monday, and spent the night in the Atlantic County Justice Facility before her release Tuesday was first investigated after a Hammonton mother was told her 2-yeasr-old son had woken up from a nap with a bruise. She took him to the hospital after seeing what she believed to be an adult handprint on his face. He also had a bruise on his ear.
While the boy is autistic and non-verbal, his twin brother told their mother that it was the teacher who hit the toddler.
During the investigation, an investigator from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency reached out to the detective in the case and alerted him to a 2-year-old girl who allegedly had a similar incident at the daycare in February, according to the affidavit obtained by BreakingAC.
“We do not harbor anyone who could potentially harm a child in our facility,” Liz Palmer wrote in an email after the story on Price’s arrests ran Monday. “Your story insinuated that we did since February and that is inaccurate.”
The Palmers were later provided copies of the affidavits in the case, including the one mentioning the February incident.
In the message sent to staff and parents updating them on the investigation, the Palmers said they had spoken with the same DCPP investigator named as the one who brought the February incident to the detective’s attention.
The Palmers also insisted they have fully cooperated in the investigation, including providing any requested records. It is not clear why they would not have been alerted to the earlier incident.
In the message to parents, Liz Palmer did reference “children involved,” along with investigations, plural.
“As promised, we have been transparent with parents, staff, and investigators, and have cooperated with the investigations thus far and continue to do so,” Liz Palmer wrote in the message to families obtained by BreakingAC. “Our records for both staff and children involved have continued and continue (to) be available for all investigators because we are confident of our practices.”
The message said they were “consulting with the state Institution Abuse Unit to see what can be changed, corrected or improved in our system and processes to prevent this from ever happening again in any of our centers.”
A new Children Academy is being built in Northfield and was expected to open in September.
The existing academy is also “weeks away” from a recording system, the message said. Parents previously said that the school has surveillance cameras to watch the children, but they do not record.
Galloway Township police put out a press release on Price’s arrest Wednesday.
In that release, the department thanked the Division of Child Protection and Permanency for their assistance, adding that they “would also like to acknowledge and thank the owners and staff of Children’s Academy for their cooperation while we investigated the incident.”
NOTE: The Atlantic County Justice Facility does not release mugshots under a mandate put in place by the former prosecutor.
