DEAR EDITOR:
I am writing because I'm appalled by what I just heard, that our school system cannot touch a child who wants to leave the school and an 8-year-old little boy walked out of the school because he wanted to go home and he was throwing a fit and he ran out and the teachers could not touch him to stop and make him go back to school.
I guess it is school policy that they are not allowed to touch the student after he leaves the premises. Not one of those teachers walked with him. That's a frightful scene for a parent to know that a child can go to school and the school can do nothing if that child decides to walk off the school property.
So the boy is 8 years old, and I guess it doesn't matter if it was a 5-year-old walking off the property; it's the same policy. I cannot believe that the teachers would not do anything.
The school knows that the child is having some problems. And the parents are doing their best to figure out what is going on with their child. I just cannot believe this policy. All they did was call the police. He ran out on Route 422. Today I did some further investigation. I went down to the board of education to find out this policy was true. And they told me that this policy is a true policy and they cannot touch a student if the student is putting himself in harm's way.
I find this policy appalling. They need to do something about it. I am writing this letter to make sure that our school systems are safe for our children. When we were in the meeting at the board of elections, the person who was in there with us told us that this has happened before, and still nothing has been done. I am a concerned parent of children who go to Warren City Schools and I just want to know that my children are going to be safe in that school when they are there for six hours.
Tammy Dustman
Warren