Probe continues in death at Montco day-care center

A Montgomery County day-care center remained closed Monday as police and state officials continued to investigate the death of a 4-month-old girl at the site last week.

State officials had ordered the Wyndmoor Montessori School to close immediately after the death Jan. 5. No charges have been filed in the case; Springfield Township police are awaiting an autopsy report from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office.

Springfield Police Chief Michael Pitkow said it was standard procedure to investigate an infant's sudden death. "When you have something this tragic, you want to make sure you cover all the bases and investigate it thoroughly," he said Monday.

The baby, whom officials have not identified, was given CPR and taken to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

Inspectors from the state Department of Human Services were called to the center on Willow Grove Avenue, and reviewed surveillance video footage and watched staff interacting with children that day.

One video showed a staff member placing a sheet over the baby's face and later apparently trying to hide the sheet, according to a state inspection report released last week.

The report also said the center showed "gross incompetence, negligence, and misconduct in operating a facility."

The baby's parents were not contacted immediately when she was taken to the hospital, the report said, because emergency contact information was not stored in the classroom. The center also lacked an individual record on file for the baby who died, investigators found.

Wyndmoor Montessori had no problems its last inspection before Jan. 5, said Kait Gillis, a DHS spokeswoman.

But among the several violations listed in last week's report, inspectors said they had seen staff members leave a baby alone in a high chair for 30 minutes without interaction and leave babies in cribs without supervision.

Gillis said DHS was working with authorities on the investigation and had given parents with children enrolled at the center information about other local child-care facilities.Wyndmoor Montessori served children ages 6 weeks through 12 years, according to its website, which boasts "a tradition of excellence in education over 40 years."

Listed as Wyndmoor Learning Center in state documents, the school was opened in the 1960s by Bessie Boodman of Jenkintown. She died in 2006. Her son Ronald is listed on state documents as the owner of the school.

Messages left at the school and Boodman's home were not returned Monday.