Parent tells council of multiple child injuries and alleges record manipulation at Minot childcare facility

During the public-comment period a local parent, Jane McMahon, told the council she believes a childcare facility at 812 8th Street NW has a pattern of noncompliance and alleged the facility has underreported injuries and that licensing records were altered to mask safety failures.

McMahon said her son was bitten 11 times at the facility and that a twelfth bite severed the tip of his finger, requiring stitches; she said the facility failed to document most of those incidents and that she believes records were backdated or altered. McMahon told the council she followed the proper reporting procedures and had filed formal reports with the state, but that records she obtained later appeared to have been edited: she said an immediate-correction order originally dated March 25 was later shown with a March 23 date, and that parent notification timestamps did not match the record she holds.

She asked the council to (1) request a state audit (audit trail review) by the state auditor and attorney general of digital licensing records, (2) remove a state licensing specialist, Amy Jenkins, from the city’s childcare committee due to a conflict of interest alleged by McMahon, and (3) review the facility’s occupancy status if the facility cannot demonstrate timely permit communications and compliance with background-check requirements.

The council did not take formal action during the meeting on these requests. Alderman Olsen later clarified that the city childcare committee is advisory and that licensing oversight is a state responsibility; McMahon said she had submitted her evidence to the state auditor and attorney general. No city staff response or independent verification of the specific allegations was recorded during the meeting; the matters raised concern allegations of record tampering, incomplete reporting and possible conflict of interest, all of which McMahon asked the council to investigate further.