Simi Preschool Official Charged With Cruelty

The director and part-owner of a Simi Valley preschool has been charged with seven counts of cruelty toward children, Simi Valley police said Thursday, and state citations have been filed against the school.

Isobel Dickson, director of Windsor Hall preschool, was charged with mental and physical abuse of seven children between 18 months and 3 years old, Detective Mike Bender said. The incidents occurred from June to December of 1985, Bender said.

The allegations against Dickson included leaving children who were being toilet trained to “sit in their own mess” for several hours and jerking their arms to punish them, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Dennis I. Floyd said.

Floyd said a teacher who quit the school in November made the allegations of abuse to police, who filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Dickson on Jan. 3.

A state Department of Social Services investigation of the abuse accusation resulted in seven citations being filed against the school on Jan. 9, said Earl Nance, licensing program manager for the agency. The citations charged that there were mouse droppings in classrooms, urine on bathroom floors and old furniture dumped in the school play yard, Nance said.

Nance said the agency had not decided whether to close the school.

Dickson, who continues to work at the school, was not arrested but is scheduled to appear for arraignment in Ventura Municipal Court on Feb. 3, Floyd said.

Dickson declined to comment.