Parents Furious After 8-Year-Old Girl Goes Missing From LI School
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island girl went missing from school and no one called her family. The school said that it followed procedure, but the girl's mother disagrees.
As CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, an 8-year-old girl was sent to the principal's office for fighting when she decided to leave school and walk home. No one could find her for half an hour.
It's nearly two miles from Unqua Elementary School to the Michael's home in Massapequa, but on Wednesday, Donna Michael did it all on her own. She even crossed treacherous Merrick road, and all without her mother's knowledge.
"She could have been abducted, could have been run over, a million different things could have happened to her," Donna's mother Corinne said.
Michael is furious that she had no idea that her daughter, a special needs third grader, walked out in the middle of a school day, and was missing for 30 minutes while a frantic search was underway.
"I think they tried to cover it up and find her before they had to notify me," she said.
Donna told her parents that she ran out of school because she was afraid that she got in trouble. Moments earlier she had been called to the principal's office following a shoving match with a friend. The two girls were sent back to their classroom, but walked out the door instead.
A staff member spotted the friend and pulled her back in, but Donna sprinted away and turned up at home more than 30 minutes later.
"They just let her run. They saw her run off," Michael said.
The Michaels are questioning safety protocol and wondering how a child can go missing from an elementary school.
Massapequa school officials told CBS 2 that they called security, and that administrators immediately called 911, and attempted to reach a parent but could not get through.
Corrine Michael said that no calls came in and no messages were left.
"I am hoping they fix what was broken. Somebody should have been looking out. If it was my home I would have been responsible if she got out," Michael said.
Nassau police confirmed that they were called within 10 minutes of Donna's disappearance. She is now back in school with an aide to shadow her.
The district's website says administrators are reviewing protocols to determine if they need to strengthen security measures that are already in place.
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