Pending a final inspection Thursday, Park Hill United Methodist Children’s Center will reopen Monday following a state evaluation of its practices, according to the Colorado Department of Human Services.
The center has been closed since August after a staff member, Benjamin Janicki, 19, was arrested on charges of molesting four young children while he worked as a pre-kindergarten aide in the school’s summer program.
“We identified significant supervision issues that we felt endangered children,” Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services.
The school has remedied those problems and will be on probation for six months, she said.
The school’s executive director at the time of the alleged molestation, Candis Robinson, is no longer with the school and a search is under way to find her replacement, said Rich Condon, a staff member and acting school chief.
The school sent e-mails to parents from 125 families who were previously registered at the school, inviting them to return Monday, he said.
“We’ve e-mailed parents and asked them to RSVP,” he said. “We’re hoping for the best.”
The 27-year-old school serves children from ages 2 1/2 to 12 and has a staff of about 15.
Janicki, a former student of the church school, was arrested Aug. 4 and had since been charged with assault on four children
He remains jailed on $350,000 bond.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
