Stock photo of a child care center
Amanda McCoy
amccoy@star-telegram.com
Staff members at a Fort Worth daycare allegedly disciplined young children by locking them in a dark closet on numerous occasions, the children’s parents told the Star-Telegram.
Teachers at the daycare, Oxford Academy DFW, would also knock and scratch on the closet door and tell the children a monster was going to eat them, the students told their parents.
Oxford Academy DFW declined to comment via phone on Tuesday, March 17. In a message to parents of pre-kindergarten students on March 5, the academy said a state investigation had been opened after a parent raised a concern about mistreatment of a child. The message does not describe the allegations, saying, “Due to privacy considerations for children, families and staff, we will not discuss specific details publicly.”
Online records show state officials made multiple visits to the center between March 4 and March 13. The recent inspection records do not indicate that any violations were found. A Child Protective Services spokesperson told the Star-Telegram they would look into whether an investigation at the center is still open.
Caitlin Crisler-Biggs noticed that her 4-year-old daughter began having behavior problems after moving up to early pre-K and private pre-K classes at the center, she wrote in a Facebook post. Crisler-Biggs’ daughter started attending the daycare at the age of 1 and continued until earlier this month.
About six months ago, the girl began having issues sleeping, being afraid of the dark and bringing up monsters, Crisler-Biggs said. Those behavior changes didn’t make sense until Crisler-Biggs said she found out what was going on at the daycare center.
The child’s father picked her up from the daycare on March 4 and found a note explaining that she had been randomly interviewed by Texas Child Care Licensing officials, Crisler-Biggs said in a phone interview on Friday, March 13. When Crisler-Biggs called a number listed on the letter, a licensing official explained that a report had been made about alleged violations of child care standards at the center, the mother said.
When asked, Crisler-Biggs’ daughter immediately told her that staff at the center handled discipline by locking her in a dark closet, the mother said. The child also told her mother that, while in the closet, she would cry and try to get out, but no one would open the door.
The note sent home with Crisler-Biggs’ daughter encouraged parents to contact the daycare’s director with any questions about the investigation.
Crisler-Biggs said she tried to talk to the center’s director after hearing the allegations from her daughter, but the director “didn’t seem concerned or … like she really cared at all.”
Oxford Academy DFW officials told parents in the March 5 message, which was posted on the daycare’s app, “Please be assured that the safety, supervision and well-being of every child in our Pre-K program are our highest priorities. Our staff strictly adhere to all Texas Child Care Licensing regulations, along with our center’s policies and procedures, to ensure a secure and nurturing environment for all children.”
A parent raised concerns to daycare staff on March 2 after hearing about alleged mistreatment from her child, according to the message. Daycare staff self-reported the incident to Texas Child Care Licensing authorities within two hours of hearing from the parent, the message states.
Two days later, child care licensing authorities came to the facility to begin an investigation, according to both the message and online records.
One of the teachers accused of mistreating children has been placed on administrative leave until the Texas licensing investigation concludes, but that move isn’t indicative of any wrongdoing by the teacher, staff wrote in the message.
Another teacher has been moved down to one of the facility’s baby rooms, parents said.
“The investigation is still not done,” the daycare’s March 5 message states. “So please, let’s not pass any judgements about anything yet until licensing finishes their investigation.”
Inspectors returned to the facility on March 13 to continue the investigation, according to online records, but it’s unclear from those records whether the investigation is complete.
“At the conclusion of my investigation, the director will be notified of my findings,” a Child Care Licensing official wrote in the note sent home with Crisler-Biggs’ daughter. The note also included a phone number for the investigator, but the investigator is not returning phone calls from parents, another parent said.
The investigator did not immediately return a phone call from the Star-Telegram on March 17. Officials with Texas Child Care Licensing declined to provide information via phone about reports or investigations into the center.
After her conversation with the center’s director, Crisler-Biggs said, she saw a social media post from the parent of another child in her daughter’s class that detailed similar allegations. That child told his parents that he was being treated similarly and that Crisler-Biggs’ daughter had been locked in the closet “a million times because she didn’t listen.”
The boy also alleged that teachers would call Crisler-Biggs’ child a “crybaby” and say she wasn’t brave because she cried while in the closet, Crisler-Biggs said.
The child recently finished her first week at a new daycare, and the difference in behavior has been night and day, the mother said.
“She said ‘the teachers at the ugly daycare were mean to me, the kids at the ugly daycare would spit on me and kick me and hit me’,” Crisler-Biggs said of her daughter. “She said, ‘at my new daycare everyone’s so nice and we all get along and play.’”
Another parent, who asked not to be identified due to concerns about her employer, told the Star-Telegram that her child and several other children also reported similar incidents at the facility. Parents of four other children reached out to the Star-Telegram on Friday, March 13.
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One parent’s son told her that he had been locked in the closet frequently when he got in trouble.
“He was like, ‘it was really scary. I cried for you, mom, but they shut me in the closet,’” the parent said. “You go in there if you’re bad, and there’s a monster in there that eats you.”
Staff at the daycare also told children they would get in more trouble if they told their parents what was going on, the parent said.
That parent and three others filed an “information report” with Fort Worth police on March 10, she said. According to the parent, officers explained that a formal police report couldn’t be made because there hadn’t been a criminal offense , but the information report would allow a detective to look into what happened.
The Star-Telegram filed a public records request on March 17 to try to obtain the report.
Seven reports have also been made with Texas Child Protective Services officials, who have not reached out to parents, the mother said.
“We’re getting a different story from different people of what we can and cannot do and who’s going to take this, and CPS has not contacted us,” the parent said.
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Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.