This story doesn’t just raise questions, it keeps changing its own answers. First we hear from an investigative reporter that the daycare receiving taxpayer dollars is not open, there are no kids. Then the director of the brand-new Department of Children, Youth and Families says it’s been shut down for more than a week. Hours later, a reporter shows up and finds vans unloading kids. Now suddenly the explanation is that this place only operates from 2 to 10 p.m. for after-school care. Which is it? Closed for over a week, or open and busy? Those two things cannot both be true, and the fact that officials can’t keep the story straight should concern anyone paying taxes into this system.

It gets even stranger when you consider the timing. Schools are out until after the holidays, meaning there is no after-school dismissal at 2:15 or 4:30 right now. Working parents would either need adjusted hours or no care at all during holiday break, yet we’re supposed to believe van loads of kids are showing up on a schedule that doesn’t align with the school calendar. Add in the misspelled name, the shifting explanations, and the defensive finger-pointing at the reporter who exposed it, and this stops looking like a misunderstanding and starts looking like a cover story in motion. When the facts keep changing by the hour, the public is right to ask what else isn’t adding up.