Woodruff daycare under investigation after child found in middle of street

WOODRUFF, S.C. (WSPA) – The Learning Years Child Development Center off E. Hayne Street in Woodruff is under investigation by the Department of Social Services.

In a Facebook post made on Monday by the daycare’s owner, Cyndie Blikle Cooper, Cooper wrote she originally told parents DSS shut her business down, but wanted to amend that statement, writing in part:

“As of 10:00 a.m. Learning Years has closed its doors. I sent a note out to all my parents telling them DSS had shut us down, technically they did not, I myself did because we didn’t not have staff. We have had some staffing issues lately (not enough) and we can not continue with that. It’s not safe for the child or my staff. Once I can get some staff hired WE WILL open back up. If anyone is looking for a job please let me know.”

The daycare has been cited numerous times by DSS since 2022.

According to public inspection records, it was cited for lack of adequate supervision throughout the facility in 2022 , 2023 and as recently as March of 2024 . It was also cited this year for having staff records that are out of date and it was cited last year for not having a CPR and First-Aid-certified employee on the premise.

Records show each complaint filed between March of 2022 and March of 2024 was eventually “resolved”; however DSS found the daycare out of compliance again on July 20, 2024 for lack of adequate supervision throughout the facility and not having the proper adult to child ratio in its classrooms and playground.

According to Cooper’s past Facebook posts, she made three public posts-one each in 2021 , 2022 and 2023 , requesting more staffing help.

All of this comes on the heels of an incident last month when a child of the daycare was discovered running on E. Hayne Street unsupervised by a passing driver.

According to Shawna Johnson, the driver who discovered the child, on June 19, she and a coworker were driving during their lunch break when they saw a small boy running in the middle of E. Hayne Street.

“So, we noticed and just kind of watched him for a second to make sure the area was safe and that somebody was going to attend to him. No one did, so we did get him to a safe area, we called the police and got him back to where he was supposed to be,” said Johnson.

The Woodruff Police Department told 7NEWS the child was returned in good health and that DSS was later contacted. They added DSS reached back out on July 1 to request more information for its own investigation.

Johnson said she spoke with DSS as well, but for the mother of four children, she said it was a shocking sight to see.

“Well, something terrible could have happened if someone responsible had not been there to help in that particular situation or any others like that,” said Johnson.

She explained the child was running through an intersection to a nearby playground before Johnson was able to get to him and that he appeared to be between three to four years old.

“When you take your child to a daycare facility, you’re expecting them to keep them safe and I do know things happen but that was a little extreme,” said Johnson.

7NEWS also spoke to a family member of a currently enrolled child who said DSS workers were at Learning Years on Monday morning during drop-off time. She explained she heard daycare employees telling each other, “They’re going to shut us down” and that some parents were forced to take the children of other families with them.

7NEWS was unable to verify whether DSS ordered Learning Years Child Development Center shut down because the inspection records are still pending.

7NEWS also reached out to DSS and to Cooper directly for comment but did not hear back from either party at the time of publication.

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