Choosing the best child care facility can be challenging. Parents want their children to feel loved and cared for while they’re away. They consider many factors when choosing a facility, and every family has a different checklist of wants, needs, and must-haves. When Keisha Saunders and her husband settled on Galaxy Ranch Private School in Rockwall, Texas, they felt confident their son was in good hands. But that all changed in March 2024 when Saunders received a terrifying phone call. Her 3-year-old son, whose name she chose not to share, received a serious head injury while at school.
Now, more than a year later, Saunders has filed suit against Galaxy Ranch claiming negligence. Saunders told the Dallas Morning News that she rushed to her son’s side and, when she arrived, saw the little boy in an ambulance with paramedics treating him.
“I didn’t know if that was the last time I would see my son alive,” she said with tears in her eyes.
According to the lawsuit reviewed by the newspaper, on the day of the alleged incident, milk spilled on the floor, and the 3-year-old reportedly put his foot into the puddle. A teacher allegedly pulled him from his seat and placed him in the time-out chair in front of the bathroom door. While placing him in the chair, she reportedly struck the toddler’s head on the door. He began to cry and begged to go home. But instead, he lay down on his cot holding his head.
The teacher reportedly noticed he was not responsive about 30 minutes later and saw vomit on the cot. That’s when staff called 911 for help. According to the lawsuit, by the time Saunders arrived, her son was “unresponsive and unable to blink, with his eyes wide open and rolled back,” the newspaper reported.
The mother said she could not ride in the ambulance with him, so she followed the emergency vehicle to the hospital. “As a parent, I just felt really devastated by that, because I just wanted to be near him. I just wanted to hold him and comfort him,” she told the Dallas Morning News.
After arriving at the first hospital, doctors determined he needed to be seen by physicians at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and arranged an airlift to the hospital. He had a skull fracture and a brain bleed. Following the incident, the Texas Health and Human Services issued citations to Galaxy Ranch for “a caregiver utilized inappropriate discipline” and “a child was abused while in care,” the outlet reported.
Galaxy Ranch told the newspaper it “takes every allegation with the utmost seriousness.” The teacher no longer works at the school, but “there is no evidence the injury occurred while in her care.”
The family filed suit against Galaxy Ranch for more than $1 million in damages. “Unfortunately, various daycares make decisions that put the safety of children and their well-being at risk,” said the family’s attorney, Russell Button. “That’s exactly why we’re here. It was put at risk for too long, and nothing was done about it.”
Thankfully, the toddler survived, but his mother said he has a long road ahead of him. A video of the alleged incident reportedly exists but was not released to the Dallas Morning News. Hopefully, a judge can review the tape that will lead to the answers Saunders so desperately desires and the justice her son deserves.
