The closure of Kiddie Academy of Brookfield means families with children enrolled there must find other care.
According to The Freeman, Kiddie Academy of Brookfield closed after the state revoked its license.
Center Stayed Open During Appeal, Then Lost It
Kiddie Academy of Brookfield appealed the revocation and remained open while the case moved through the administrative hearing process, though it was barred from enrolling new children during that time. An administrative judge upheld DCF's revocation decision last week and required the center to close immediately, a ruling that set off the chain of hurried notices to families. Wisconsin's regulatory framework allows DCF to pursue corrective measures, suspensions or outright revocation, and state rules require centers to post any enforcement notice affecting their license, including a revocation, in an area visible to parents.
Subhra Gupta, speaking on behalf of the academy, said in an email Thursday afternoon that license holders were held responsible for credential verification failures and that DCF revoked the center's child care license as a result. Gupta said the academy does not dispute the importance of accountability and that licensing requirements exist for important reasons, with license holders responsible for compliance. But Gupta also said the academy believes it received unfair and disproportionate treatment from the state, disagreed with aspects of DCF's findings, and said no child was harmed in connection with the incidents underlying the proceedings. The center had challenged allegations it believed were inaccurate and said it implemented additional compliance measures, according to Gupta, who questioned the consistency of enforcement among Wisconsin providers and asked why permanent closure was deemed appropriate when DCF has used corrective measures in other serious cases. Gupta argued that enforcement decisions should be transparent and consistent given that each case has unique circumstances, and that DCF could have allowed the academy to demonstrate compliance and continue serving families. Gupta described the closure as involuntary, following the state's decision to revoke the license.
Families Left With Little Time to Plan
Rory Misener, who used Kiddie Academy for about five years across three children, said the closure announcement came as a surprise and that the communication from the center was very vague. His family currently uses the center for about an hour each day for before-school care for one daughter, who catches the bus from the facility, and he said his family's experience there was generally positive, including the center's willingness to work with his daughter, who has special needs. Even so, Misener said he had noticed more staff turnover and less parent communication than at a previous provider, and he said he was concerned about allegations involving altered training certificates.
For a child care center, closure like this means children lose access to familiar teachers and friends, employees lose their jobs, and families lose care they depend on.
Finding New Care
Families facing a child care center's closure may need time to explore alternatives.
Wisconsin's child care licensing FAQ, published by DCF, states that licensees may appeal an enforcement action to the state's Division of Hearings and Appeals, and if that division upholds the action, the licensee may take the matter to circuit court — the same appeals path that played out in the Brookfield case before the administrative judge's ruling last week. DCF has separately reported that the state's licensed providers are under capacity by 33,000 children statewide, though the figure does not speak specifically to availability for Brookfield-area families now searching for a new spot.
License revocations in Wisconsin child care do occur. In a separate case reported by WSAW, DCF proposed revoking the license of a KinderCare Learning Center in Schofield after citing play areas with exposed concrete instead of required energy-absorbing surfacing, along with general cleanliness violations; that center had also been fined in 2022 after staff sprayed children with spray bottles for not sleeping during naptime. The facts and enforcement basis in that case are distinct from the Brookfield situation, but it underscores that DCF has used its revocation authority against licensed centers elsewhere in the state.
