A mother closes her Oldsmar Youth Club to care for her toddler after the county says she can't do both. She hopes to reopen some day.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published June 28, 2004
OLDSMAR - The hamsters disappeared. The sprouting sunflowers vegetated. The smell of pancake batter wafted somewhere else.
The kids left, too. For Melody Knight, that was tough.
Knight had built up the after-school day care center she always wanted from the cold floors of a former feed store. But she tore it down last month after failing to meet one of Pinellas County's stringent child care rules.
Caring for her 2-year-old daughter, Kaylee, kept Knight from keeping her day care open.
"This place was special. It was different," said Knight, still wearing a shirt from the Oldsmar Youth Club. "How can you give me an answer from a code book if my case doesn't fit a code book?"
Knight, 41, closed the Youth Club last month after county regulations forbade her from mixing Kaylee with the club's 36 older children, ages 5 and up.
None of the parents objected to Kaylee's presence, Pinellas County License Board program director Kathy Mulrennan said, but the rules are clear.
"Caring for infants is very different. They need lots of one-on-one and nurturing," Mulrennan said. "As soon as an infant cries, you have to go. That's time your eyes aren't on the rest of the school-aged children."
The Youth Club closed May 18, leaving dozens of parents scrambling to find a new program.
Tom Bohannon's 7-year-old daughter, Sage, is spending the summer at a Clearwater day care facility. But Bohannon, an Oldsmar stained glass artist, preferred Knight's club. So did Sage.
"I think I speak for all the parents there. I imagine the rule has its purpose," Bohannon said. "I just don't think it's suitable in all instances."
The Oldsmar Youth Club was different than many other child care facilities.
It was hands-on. There were no videos, television or computer games. Instead, school-aged children grew flowers, took care of tadpoles and hermit crabs and learned to cook.
The facilities were only for Youth Club activities and unlike many day cares, it didn't share its space. Children could leave their Lego blocks or pictures out overnight.
Knight, a day care teacher for 14 years, had a vision of quality child care. It was the Youth Club.
"I never had a child pull out," she said. "The only way I lost a kid is if they moved away or their parents lost their jobs. It was like a family that's gone now."
After the county told her she wouldn't be allowed to care for Kaylee and participate in her business, Knight tried to run the club from afar. But slowly, she saw her vision fading. Her kids were losing interest.
So Knight came back to the Youth Club. Kaylee split her days between her grandmother, Darlene Sacco, and her oldest brother Andrew, 16.
That didn't work either.
Knight closed her doors on the last day of school this spring, less than three years after opening the club.
"This might sound hypocritical, but I think a child should be with his mother for their impressionable years," she said. "My talent is child care, and I wanted to make sure Kaylee benefited from my talent."
But Mulrennan, the county licensing official, said infants could have trouble adjusting to a setting with older children, and that they are more prone to infection, which could spread throughout the group.
Knight said the relationship between Kaylee, who spent about six months at the Youth Club before an inspector told her the child was not allowed, and the other children was splendid.
In that time, the school kids learned, Knight said. And Kaylee, who was less than a year old, learned, too.
"It worked wonderfully," said Knight, who has two sons older than Kaylee and is married to David, a swimming pool contractor. "Her social skills are way advanced for (age) 2. She talks. She sings."
After the county intervened, parents were asked to fill out questionnaires, saying whether they minded Kaylee's presence. Most, like Bohannon, offered to fight for Knight.
But Knight said they couldn't win.
Bohannon's daughter, Sage, took home one of the club's pet hamsters. Rodrigo, named after a character from television's Clifford the Big Red Dog, is doing well in the new environment.
Sage is spending the summer at another day care center with her 5-year-old brother, Blake, while Bohannon is at work. That facility won't pick up the pair from Oldsmar Elementary School this fall so Bohannon has to cut back on work to pick up his children.
He doesn't understand the county's position.
"This had been a dream of hers (Knight)," Bohannon said. "It's tragic to me that she has a child now and is unable to continue her dream for some silly reason. Somebody that owns a day care has their heart in it. They're not just doing it for the money."
The Oldsmar Youth Club bus is parked in the Knights' back yard. Most of the club's toys have been donated or sold at a yard sale. All that's left for Knight is a photo album to remember the children.
As she watches Kaylee with her bobbing blond locks, Knight already thinks about her daughter's fifth birthday. That's when the Youth Club could be reborn. "I still have that dream of doing it better," she said. "I could have had a better location. I could have done some other things differently. I love kids. They will always be my passion."
