Student, 6, Found Safe After Walking Away From Warwood School
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WHEELING -- Ohio County Schools is promising additional safeguards in its schools after a student walked off from the Warwood School on Tuesday and was discovered walking in the adjacent neighborhood.
"The school system is aware of an incident that occurred on Jan. 4, 2022, at Warwood Elementary School," Ohio County Schools Communications Director Gabe Wells said in a released statement. "Specifically, a student left the school and was observed by a passing driver who then called law enforcement.
"Fortunately, the student was unharmed."
The child's mother, Katie Morris, said in a Tuesday Facebook posting, "Today was one of the scariest days of my life, and I've never been as angry as I was today, and still am."
She explained her 6-year-old son asked to use the bathroom and was apparently allowed to walk to the bathroom alone. The child was "feeling sad about a relative passing and wanted to go home. So that's what he did," she said.
Morris posted her son managed to walk out of the front doors of his school and almost all the way home to the top of Cherry Hill.
"He had to cross multiple streets and went halfway up a busy hill that does not have a sidewalk. And he did not have his coat on," she posted. "To get as far as he did, he would have had to be walking for no less than a half hour. If you add in the time he was in the restroom, he was probably gone for about 45 minutes.
"And not one adult, not one teacher knew he was gone," she continued. "A stranger picked my son up and put him in her car, drove him to the gas station, and called the police. He was picked up there by a cop and returned to school and that's when I was called while I was at work and his dad was called. There are no words that can describe my anger."
The school system "takes seriously its responsibility to protect the students in its schools throughout the school day," its statement reads.
"The first thought is always student safety, but now the school system must determine what went wrong and what measures are needed to ensure this never happens again," according to the statement. "Clearly this incident is unacceptable and there are no acceptable explanations that the system can provide to the student's family.
"This review process began immediately, and we anticipate implementing future safeguards at the conclusion of the process to ensure this never happens again."
Morris said the only thing school officials had said to her is "they're sorry and don't know how this happened."
"Not only do they have their regular teacher, but there is also an aide in the room," Morris posted. "Both failed to realize my son didn't come back, and no one saw my kid walk out the doors. He had to walk right past the office.
"My son could have been killed, or kidnapped."
She said once she gets the info on the woman who picked up her son and called the police she will contact her and thank her "from the bottom of my heart."
"It is truly a miracle that something bad didn't happen to my son. Needless to say my kids will not be returning to Warwood School. If you have a child that goes there, please be aware that they are not keeping our children safe," Morris posted.