Brooklyn dad says daughter's pre-K 'storing' kids in basement

EAST NEW YORK (WABC) -- A Brooklyn dad claims his daughter's school tried to hide the fact they were keeping pre-K students in the basement of a building. But when Miguel Navedo went to check for himself, with a cell phone video camera, he says that is exactly what he discovered.

I Love Me is a popular day care center and universal pre-K facility in East New York. Parents drop off their children there every day, but is the building where the kids spend their time? Navedo says no.

He claims the youngsters are being warehoused either in the basement or at teachers' houses. He took the video when he went to confront the day care after he says his 4-year-old daughter Jaemarie innocently mentioned spending her days there.

"We play, eat, go back to school, sleep" in the basement, she told Eyewitness News.

The Navedo family says they were happy with the care at the facility for two years until, their daughter told them she doesn't always stay there. She claims many times, she has to spend the day off-site at a teacher's house or in the basement of the church next door.

"I had mixed emotions," he said. "I was angry and wanted to cry."

But when Miguel confronted officials there last month, he says they denied Jaemarie's claims. But his video caught what he calls less-than-ideal conditions in the basement.

"All the kids were just sitting around, playing around, no tables for the kids," he said. "It seemed like they were just being stored there until the end of the day...The main reason I left my daughter there is so she can learn."

So far, officials with the facility have declined to comment.

The city is now conducting a multi-agency investigation, including the Department of Health and Children's Services.

"We are aware of the specific allegations made by this parent," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We take them very seriously."

Navedo has since pulled Jaemarie from the school after the incident. She now spends her days at home, singing and helping with Christmas decorations, her first pre-K experience not exactly what her family had expected.