Sara Poole was shocked when police called her Wednesday to say they'd found her 7-year-old son walking on the side of Pine Mountain Road in Kennesaw.

"I had no idea why he was there," she said. "He was supposed to be at day care."

A Kennesaw preschool employee, Barbara Ellen Alba, 65, was arrested Wednesday and charged with felony cruelty to children in the second degree, Kennesaw police spokesman Scott Luther said.

The boy, whose mother did not want his name released, told police he "jumped over the fence" and was walking home.

He was found 3.1 miles from the Happy Days Preschool on Cherokee Street in Kennesaw and on the other side of heavily traveled Cobb Parkway.

A passerby stopped her car when she saw the boy about 11 a.m. Wednesday near Pine Mountain and Stilesboro roads.

She questioned the boy, and called Cobb County police, the child's mother said.

"He wented to come see me," Poole said. "We hadn't seen each other since Thursday night."

She said she had been out of town and her ex-husband took their son to the preschool.

Poole said her son had only been to the daycare "a handful" of times because he was usually in an afterschool program at his school. Her daughters, ages 3 and 4, had been going to the day care since August.

"We've never had any problems," she said. "I'm not aware of any incidents that had happened previously. This is a complete and total shock."

Poole said her son climbed over a chain-link fence. "I have no idea how they didn't see him," she said. "It makes a lot of noise. He had to throw his shoes over — he was wearing flip-flops — climb the fence and go."

The boy knew the way home, Poole said, because it was the route she would take when she picked up his sisters. She was alarmed because Pine Mountain Road has no sidewalk.

"He wasn't scared. He knew he was in trouble with me, but he wasn't scared, and I'm glad for that," Poole said. "I'm thankful for the woman that stopped."

She said her children won't return to the preschool.

"I am going to be finding a different facilty for my girls," she said. "There's no way on God's green earth, that I would take them back there or recomnend them to anyone else."

Poole, 27, has changed her summer plans because of the incident. She is a student at Kennesaw State and had planned to take summer classes.

"I'm dropping my courses because they need me," she said. "I'm spending time with my children this summer and researching the best place to take them during the school year."

As for her son, he'll stay close to her.

"He's grounded till he's 30," Poole said. "He is allowed no outside time. He is not going to a friend's house. He is not going anywhere without me. Until everything blows over, I need to keep him close."

The agency that licenses state child care centers found some rules violations, but no lack of supervision, when it made an unnannounced visit to Happy Days on May 7.

Kay Hellwig, director of child care services for Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, said the violations included not having enough of a resilient surface -- like mulch -- under playground equipment, rust on some parts of the slide and on the metal above the tire swing, and insufficient training for some staff, teachers and the cook.

Also, Hellwig said, the sink next to the diaper area in one of the toddler rooms didn't have heated running water.

"They had enough staff in the room for the children they had and we did not find a lack of supervision while we were there," Hellwig said.

She said the center has been licensed since Feb. 1, 2004.

On Wednesday, Luther said that when Kennesaw police went to Happy Days, they "observed several juveniles of various ages on the playground without adult supervision."

Only two adults were at the school, one working in the "infant room," and the other doing administrative work in an office, Luther said. Neither knew the boy was missing.

The state licensing agency is investigating the incident. Hellwig said the investigation would take at least 10 days, and the responses could include a meeting with the center to determine ways it can improve, a fine or revocation of the center's license. She said revocation usually does not happen in situations where a child leaves the center.

"Usually there has to be a history of serious rules violations," Hellwig said.

A woman who identified herself as a worker at Happy Days declined to comment Thursday.