“Mistaken identity” triggers tougher school dismissal procedures

A staff member at Kenwood Elementary School was suspended for five days without pay following an incident in which a five-year-old girl was mistakenly released to a Meritan Company case  worker and released from school, according to CMCSS Director of Schools Michael Harris.

The child’s mother, Shaquanna Downs, spoke to media outside the school department prior to the CMCSS press conference. She is angry and upset over the mistake that put her daughter in the hands of a stranger, and cannot understand how this situation could be allowed to happen. “We expect our children to be safe at school,” Downs said. “It their duty and their responsibility to protect (the children).”

Downs was not satisfied with the five-day suspension and as yet did not know what repurcussions would come through the case workers company,  Meritan, or through the Department of Children’s Services. Latina Garrett, the child’s grandmother, shook her head, still unable to accept that school personnel didn’t have better controls in place to prevent such mistaken identities from happening. Both women admitted they are reluctant to trust the school with their child.

Harris, however, in addressing the media, was quick to admit that the safeguards in place “were not enough” and that adjustments andf stricter procedures would immediately be implemented in every Montgomery County school.

“DCS, and/or the contracted company, Meritan, are independently responsible for their own internal investigation to determine how they might improve their processes,” Harris said. “Our investigation has focused on our procedures acan be improved and to determine if any employee or employees of CMCSS could have done more to protect the safety of students at Kenwood Elementary School.”

Calling this incident “the perfect storm,” Harris immediately acknowledged that “several errors had been made…we are responsible.” He cited findings the require “improved safeguards” and “closer attention to existing safeguards to prevent futures incidences of this type.”

In the press conference held Thursday afternoon, Harris first outlined the chronology of this incident, then detailed the CMCSS response:

• Tuesday Morning, Meritan case worker Julie Childers  called Attendance Secretary Stacey Rogers, alerting her that she would be picking up student #2 at noon to transport her for a custody visit in Nashville.  A yellow sticky note was left for the Administrative Assistance informing her of the planned pick-up.

• At 11:50 a.m., student # 1  reported sick to the nurse’s office with a stomach ache. Nurse Davis found the child’s temperature elevated and called all available numbers for the child’s parents; the number called for the mother was incorrectly listed on the school system computer, though it was correct on the hard copy. The message requested that a parent pick up the sick stuident at school. At noon, the nurse sent student #1 back to class to collect her belongings, then go back to the nursing office to wait for her parents.

• Between 12:50 and 1:20 p.m.,  Childers arrives to pick up student # 2. Childer’s ID is verified by Schroeder, who was also answering a phone call at the same time.  The ID was confirmed, signed in the visitor log, and permission to release was confrimed on the second child’s card. Ms Childers spoke to student #1 calling her by student # 2’s name. Schroeder heard Ms. Childers coment that the child had a new hairstyle. Student #1 was in the clinc but joined Ms. Childers after the conversation interaction., incorrectly assuming it was child #2 in the clinic. She at not time identified student #1  as the child to be dismissed. Childers left with student #1 and student #2 was never called from class.

• At 12:55 p.m., the nurse and other front desk staff return from lunch, and the nurse notes that the children have been picked up. Administrative Aide Missy Weide verifies with Schroeder that the child she assumed to be child #2 was picked up.

• Meanwhile, Childers goes to Hearts and Hands Day Care in Clarksville to pick up the younger sibling of student #2. The daycare staff greet student #1 by student #2’s name. Both children are then driven to Nashville, where the grandmother  informed the case worker that the older girl is not her granddaughter.

• Childers then calls Kenwood School and leaves a voice mail message for the attendance secretary, stating:

“I accidentally picked up the wrong child  and did not know it. have not seen her in a few weeks — need someone to call me.”

• The attendance secretary did not retrieve the message  as she was working the front desk, assisting with the p.m. dismissal and answering front desk phones.

• Student #2’s mother called the foster parent Starlette Barren to let her know the wrong child had been brought to Nashville.

• Kenwood attendance secretary then received a call from the foster parent, letting them know that student #2 would need to ride the bus home. The foster mother said the case worker should have recognized the child, since she had provided transportation before.

• At that point, the principal was contacted and the identity of the child was confirmed. The principal then contacted the CMCSS directors and administrator. Mr. Harris then contacted the Clarksville Police Department  to report the incident, which was logged as “informational,” not “criminal.”

“We didn’t have things written out as well as we should have,” Harris said, statng that tougher guidelines for dismissal are already in place. “Safety of the students, all of our students, is our #1 responsibility.” Additionally, staff are now cross-checking information cards with the compterized records for students.

Harris has ordered the following actions:

1. Principals must insure that procedures for dismissals are clearly documented and that staff are comprehensively training in those procedures.
2. Office personnel must verifiy student identification before release is allowed. Additionally, sign in sheets must be completed in full (this was not done by the Meritan worker) and the visitor must show proof of identification.
3. Nurses of designees must make certain that students in clinics are supervised such that someone nearby knows who is in the clinic and why, in case the nurse needs to leave the clinic for any reason.
4. Every effort should be made to insure that during lunch periods more than one person is on duty in elementary school offcies or that the nurse or one office staff member is present.
5. Students will only be called to the office at the time of the request by staff and not before the person picking them up arrives. the exception is when a child is in the clinic and too sick to return to clas. In such cases, office staff will notify the nurse when an authorized person arrives for the child.

As for the oputcome in terms of CMCSS personnel, here’s what happened:

• Michelle Schroeder, who has worked part time at Kenwood in the business office for four years, received a Letter of reprimand in her file and was suspended for five days without pay.
• Kenwood Principal Sallie Oden and School Nurse Ryan Davis had “letters of concern”  placed in their personnel files.