Controversy surrounds The Ranch daycare center in Madison when it closed this week after flunking Health Department and Madison fire inspections. However, a group of parents whose children attend the Ranch are protesting as they try to drum up support and help the beleaguered daycare center reopen.
The city of Madison issued the following statement this afternoon:
We are aware that The Ranch failed a State Health Department Inspection. The State requires daycares to have a letter confirming compliance with the Fire Code; however, Fire Code Issues were only one part of the failed inspection. The City notified The Ranch in February that it would need to bring the property to current code compliance, which includes life safety issues such as a fire alarm and sprinklers in the facility. We also indicated that we would work with them on time. Presently, none of those issues have been addressed beyond quotes which were only provided to the City on Monday 10/27. To be clear, the City's Codes do require fire safety requirements, but the City did not close the facility.
We are unsure as to when The Health Department notified The Ranch that it would not be able to operate, but The Ranch notified the City on Friday. We do think it is unfortunate that The Ranch failed to notify parents until Monday.
The Health Department published a copy of the report on its website. The Ranch passed inspection in March 2025 and October 2024 but flunked the September 2025 inspection.
The inspection report lists the violations.
The inspection is posted below.
Kingfish note: Parents are raising hell on social media, saying "community" over code. Well, what are they going to say if the building catches fire while their kids are in it? Some of these same parents probably cheered Mike Chaney on when he closed Thalia Mara Hall and Eudora Welty Library after they flunked fire inspections. There is a reason for fire codes and one has to look no further than Natchez to understand why. Instead of raising hell with the city, maybe they should chip in and help the Ranch meet the fire codes and get some insurance as well.
2 comments:
Who the hell signed for State Dept. Of Health?
So they pass in March but fail 6 months later? Let’s see the inspection from March. Not making much sense.
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