Brookfield, Mequon daycare centers shut down, licenses revoked

Two Kiddie Academy daycares closed just last week, leaving parents scrambling to find a place for their kids. Waukesha County reporter Brett Lemoine has new details about the investigation that prompted those shutdowns. In an email, a spokesperson for the Department of Children and Families told Fox 6 Kitty Academy of Brookfield had its license revoked in June. The state says it was because of, quote, falsification of information and having unqualified staff supervising children. The state says Kitty Academy appealed the decision. We reviewed documents provided to us by DCF through an open records request. In it, there are references to multiple times where Kitty Academy had instances where, quote, Groups of children in four out of seven classrooms were under the supervision of assistant teachers and not supervised by qualified teachers as required. A complaint was received in May 2025 from a mother who says her 17-year-old daughter was employed at Kitty Academy of Brookfield as a receptionist and dishwasher. The state found the girl was asked to work directly with kids to, quote, help the center meet staffing ratios. DCF completed an investigation into multiple workers' backgrounds in May and found some of the certificates for their required courses were fake. The Mequon's location's license was revoked in May. We reached out to Kitty Academy's corporate offices in Maryland. A spokeswoman says the franchisees have opted to permanently close these two locations. She goes on to say quote we take compliance with state licensing requirements seriously and expect every independently owned and operated Academy to follow suit. Reporting in Brookfield, Brett Lemoine, Fox 6 News. One affected parent told us she's having a really tough time finding child care. She says most places have waiting lists until spring at least. We also reached out by email to the attorney who represents the franchise owner, but we have not yet heard back.