RICHMOND, Va. -- A five-year-old boy wandered home from school, soon after he got on the bus to go to school, his family said Tuesday.
Daniel Cameron watched his son, Nyzaiah, board the bus for his first day of kindergarten at Oak Grove Elementary School in Richmond Tuesday morning.
“I didn't walk away until the bus was out of my sight,” Cameron said.
But, an hour later, he said he heard a knock on the door at his house. When he opened the door he found find his son standing there.
“I was just shocked,” Cameron said.
Cameron said Nyzaiah managed to leave school, which is located about a quarter mile from his house, and walk home.
“How did nobody see a five-year-old walking in the opposite direction from the school?” Cameron said.
“It's disturbing that we lost a child this morning,” Richmond School Board member Kim Gray said.
She called what happened unacceptable.
“We need to do a better job making sure we secure our children,” Gray said.
Nyzaiah said he left school because other kids were bullying him.
“They mean to me,” Nyzaiah Cameron said.
Cameron said he had a conversation with the school’s principal Tuesday who told him the school will check in with him to let him know his son has arrived safely.
“Every morning when he get there they are going to call me to let me know,” Cameron said.
A spokeswoman for Richmond Public Schools said the district takes full responsibility for what happened, and they are taking immediate action to ensure the safety and well-being of all students.
Here is the full statement from Cletisha Lovelace with RPS.
This morning, a kindergarten student at Oak Grove Elementary School (OGES) left school grounds to return home. The student’s home is located less than .25 mile from OGES.
The school was notified by the child’s parent and returned to school within a 10 – 15 minute time frame.
In response to today’s incident, the principal has met with all building staff to review and reinforce new procedures for morning arrival and dismissal. Additionally, the principal has also met with the student’s parents and discussed the processes that have been put in place to rectify the incident.
The district takes full responsibility for today’s incident and has taken immediate action to ensure the safety and well-being of all students. As always, we place the safety of our students first and will take the necessary measures to protect them.
