Knoxville (WVLT) - A north Knoxville daycare shuts down. That's after the Tennessee Department of Human Services say a two-year old escaped to the parking lot, and DHS says that's not all that was wrong.

Volunteer TV's Mike McCarthy has the details.

DHS says All Star Kids in halls voluntarily shut down Friday, but if it hadn't, DHS would've closed it down. Both DHS and daycare managment agree the daycare was out-of-compliance, but by how much is in question.

"No parent wants to worry about their child. You want to make sure they're in the best hands possible," parent Kelly Smith said.

And Kelly Smith's put her four-year-old in the hands of All Star Kids Daycare in Halls, but now that's shut down.

"It makes me feel horrible because there's quite a bit of things that's pretty bad," Smith said.

The Tennessee Department of Humans services say it received an anonymous complaint Friday. DHS says it found about 40 kids, but only three caregivers. All Star Kids' owner Thomas Penson say some staff members called in sick, but says the staff-child ratio wasn't that bad. He says the daycare had about 35 kids and five caregivers. Numbers he says still put them in violation by about five kids. So, he voluntarily shut down.

"It was the right thing to do. What we should have done is called the parents earlier when we realized the ratios were going to be off," Penson said.

DHS also says a two-year-old escaped to the parking lot...while it's liscensing counselors were there. Penson says the toddler didn't get that far.

"The child made it to the door. They probably did open the door when the teacher caught them," Penson said.

Before you choose a daycare experts recommend checking out key components. Those include health and safety issues, learning opportunities, and child-teacher interations. When it comes to making sure a daycare has the right staff-to-student-ratio....

"Parents can access a summary of DHS licensing regulations and child care programs can make that available and parents can revue those," said Karen Binkley from Child Care Resource and Referral.

All Star Kids plans to re-open within the next week.

"Because we're a geat organization. We really work hard to teach and help our kids learn. We just had a situation on Friday that's not something that happens," Penson said.

But Smith's four-year-old won't be there.

All star kids must meet certain requirements before it can re-open. That includes a substition policy. The daycare center had previously received a three star rating from DHS. That's the highest possible, but DHS hadn't given out this years, and becuase of this shutdown, All Star Kids will have no stars.