After a lengthy public hearing on Tuesday, Brewer city councilors said they plan to deny a child care center’s appeal for its license.
Councilors heard statements from the owner of Elevate Childcare Center, Sarah Grant, and multiple parents before voting to hold a meeting on Friday to officially deny the business’ license.
Grant came to the council to appeal the city’s denial of Elevate’s license earlier this year. Her approval process was flagged by the Brewer Police Department who are part of the approval process along with every other department in the city.
The denial was based on an investigation into Blake Sullivan, a former staff member who was charged with assault on a child under 6 years old after an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Multiple councilors said they wouldn’t approve Elevate’s license even with conditions because of three DHHS investigations dating back to 2021 and Grant’s inability to state how the business has trained its staff to avoid any violations in the future.
“To me, it is clear that she has exhibited poor judgment of character, lack of accountability, lack of an ability to manage her staff and the business, and it is my opinion that she is unable to keep Brewer children safe,” Councilor Jenn Morin said.
The assault took place on April 2, but the parents of the child weren’t notified it occurred until May 6, according to the parents.
Staff at Elevate did not notify DHHS when the assault took place.
A contract worker in the center at the time reported it. A manager at the center who knew the assault took place and did not report it is still working at the center and is set to leave in October, Grant said.
The mother of the child who was assaulted told the council that they should deny the approval because Grant couldn’t be trusted to run the center.
Michele Harmon, the grandmother of the child who was assaulted, said Grant wasn’t involved enough with her business to stop her grandchild from getting hurt. She said the closure will hurt the Brewer community because there will be one less child care center, but Grant could’ve avoided it.
“There’s harm to every parent that will lose their child care. There’s harm because you weren’t paying attention,” Harmon said.
Councilors said Grant seemed unprepared for the public hearing, to which she didn’t bring any documents.
Grant could not say how many children are at the center. She said she owns and operates the business but cannot teach the children there because she isn’t fully vaccinated.
The council voted unanimously to hold a meeting on Friday at 11 a.m. to vote on terms of the denial.