The parents of a 5-year-old Long Island boy are furious after their kindergartener was able to walk out of his elementary school, undetected, and walked nearly a third of a mile to his house. It was his parents who learned he had left school.
"I look at my Ring camera and there’s my 5-year-old. With a strange man outside our house door. I don’t know why my son is home," said the boy’s father, William Matthies.
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The parents were confused because his son was supposed to be in school at Forest Lake Elementary in Wantagh and no one had told them their son was missing. They later learned their son asked to use the bathroom, was allowed to go by himself, and that’s when he left the school through a side door and walked all the way home.
"He went down three hallways," said mother Katie Matthies. "The hallway where the class is, the hallway with the bathroom and the hallway where the exit was. There was no one monitoring the hallways."
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And there are no alarms on the doors to warn people. The teacher noticed William hadn’t returned from the bathroom and a search took place inside the building.
"I called the school," the mother said. "I said a 5-year-old in your school is on my Ring doorbell. The principal picked up the phone asked where and he ran there on foot."
The boy had to cross three streets and one three-way intersection to make it home. Luckily, Stuart Kavner, a neighbor and an educator for 47 years, saw the boy walking by himself and became concerned.
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"I asked him where he was going, he said 'I’m going home.' I say, 'OK,' and I start walking behind him, and he said, 'You don’t have to walk behind me.'" "I said, 'I want to make sure you’re okay.' I walked quite a ways to his house."
Once he got to his house, he knew no one was home and called 911. The Wantagh School District said in a statement, "We remain committed to ensuring best practices are in place and are continually reviewing our safety protocols. Since this incident occurred, the district has already put additional security measures in place."
The district wouldn’t elaborate, but the Matthies say the school now has an aide for William and battery operated door alarms. But they believe more needs to be done including aides for every kindergarten class and hardwired alarms at every door.
“Something that is hardwired to the front office of the school to say this door is open now, let’s go check it out,” said William Matthies.
While the family is relieved their son wasn’t hurt, they hope this is a wake up call to the district that more security measures are needed.
"I feel like it’s our responsibility that all children in Wantagh are safe. If my son can do this, who else can do this? One time is too many, this is a call to action,” said Katie Matthies.
