"Should Ellie be walking home from school?"
Me: "Um, No?!?"
Jamie: "Well she is walking up Clark Lane (the busy street our school is one) and she has already crossed the crosswalk"
Me: "Ohmygoodness, are you serious? Ohmygoodness!"
Jamie"Yes, should I take her home or back to school?"
Me: "Please bring her home, I can't believe this."
There was more said, but you get the idea. I never thought in a million years that I would get a phone call like that. I about died. I was so angry. I didn't know if I should cry, scream, call the police, call the school, call Jeron...I was just so confused. How in the world does this happen? My neighbor brought Ellie and she was just as confused and upset as I was. She asked me what I was going to do and I really didn't know. After I tried to talk to Ellie about what happened she just kept telling me she got hit. I looked at her face and sure enough there was a mark. Now I am really upset. I call Jeron and tell him everything. I told him that I didn't want to call the school, that I wanted to see how long it took them to call me. We both wanted to do this but then our level heads prevailed and we decided they needed to know she was home and SAFE. (No thanks to them)
I still was upset so I called my mom to see what she would do. I told her about everything and that Ellie communicated that she was hit. She too was just as upset as Jeron and I. She decided to call my dad. After a little while she called me back and told me my dad was contacting an attorney. She told me that she told him about Ellie being hit. That is when I took a closer look at her face and wiped it with a rag and "the mark" wiped right off. That was a relief. At least if she got hit it wasn't a bruise. I then told her I probably should call the school since it had been 35 minutes since she had been home and they still had not called me. She was already saying I should call the school so that I wouldn't get in trouble.
I called the school at 12:35pm. The secretary answers the phone with a nervous tone. Yes, I could tell that she knew it was me and that they had a problem. I asked to speak to the principal. I was immediately connected with her. She got on and said :"Mrs. Meads"
Me: "No, this is Mrs. Snow?!?"
P: "Im sorry, I know that...it's just on caller ID your number is...well Mrs. Snow, I know it is you. We have a problem."
Me: "Yes, you do. but first off Ellie is home."
P: Not to me but to others with her. "She is home, she is home, Ellie is home."
Other people "Oh good, oh good, she is home. Oh good."
P: Mrs. Snow she has been missing for about 10 minutes and we were just about to call you."
Me: "No she has not been missing for 10 minutes. I have had her at my home for the past 35 min."
P: "Oh"
Me: "How does this happen?"
P: "Well, Mrs, Snow, I was just informed about this let me have you talk to my aide."
Aide: "Im so sorry, I am glad she is home."
Me: Yes, but how did this happen?!?"
This in when I am informed about Ellie's schedule and that they have started letting her walk to things on her own. I am told that she goes to lunch for 25 minutes unsupervised. I am told that she walks out to her portable by herself. Do these people understand that my daughter has Down Syndrome? I am dying at all
this NEW information.
It turns out that Ellie goes to lunch at 11:05 with her regular class. Then Emma gets in the lunch room around 11:20. She then eats with Emma. The special needs teachers get there at 11:25. Ellie usually will go to them after Emma leaves for recess. Today she didn't. And they didn't notice. Ellie came home with her coat, a picture book of hers, her backpack, and lunch box. That means she walked to her classroom on the other end of the school from the lunch room, collected her things and walked out of the school, crossed the crosswalk, and got picked up by my neighbor without a single adult noticing. Who knows what else she did in the minutes that are unaccounted for. Emma says she eats for only about 10-15 minutes meaning that Ellie could have been alone for 20 minutes in the school without anyone thinking this was odd.
The aide told me that she didn't know she was missing until 12:25. She had already been home for 25 minutes. She said that she searched the playground, looking in all the tunnels and slides, while the other aide searched the lunch room. They then met up and switched. She decided to check the classroom first and noticed Ellie's backpack missing and that is when panic sunk in. She saw a first grade girl in the hall that told her Ellie was on the playground. This relieved her a bit. She met up with the aide again and no Ellie. They then decided to come and call me and that is why they were in the office when I called.
I just can't believe that this happened. I keep thinking about it and it bothers me so much. They were very VERY apologetic which they should be. They told me they would no longer let her go anywhere by herself.. DUH!!! Until Ellie can communicate fully and we know she is willing to follow direction NEVER would I have agreed to her going anywhere by herself. Props to Ellie for only wandering off this one time. Apparently She was give free rein to do whatever she wanted.
I am still just so confused but most of all scared. I trust that she will be safe at school. I trust that I will find her there when I go to pick her up. Now that trust is broken. This is not an easy feeling. I keeping thinking "What if... my neighbor hadn't seen her, or a creep did see her, or she walked the wrong way on a very COLD day, or she fell in the creek, or, or, or.
I am just so frustrated. Jeron and I both don't know what to think. It turns out when JJ got home from school he said "Mom, I was really worried about Ellie because they paged her on the intercom throughout the school" He then tells me that they have done this before. We then put two and two together and realize that between the two of us we know of three times now that she has gone missing. again I ask HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!?
They will now inform me of any decisions they make that changes her schedule. They were very willing to do anything I wanted, including calling me every time she went to any other activity. A bit of an overkill. The attorney told my dad that if they were not apologetic and willing to do things we should seek legal action. They have been overly apologetic and willing to help so I guess that is good. The only problem is that now I WONDER will she be okay today. That is a long time for a child to go unaccounted for. It just scares me a lot that they just might forget to watch her again. SIGH!!!! I'll just keep saying my prayers and hope those angels that have saved her so many other times will continue to protect my angel.
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