Mom Upset After Mix-Up At Local School Allows 6-Year-Old To Leave Unattended
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A local mom says she got a real scare when she showed up at school to pick up her 6-year-old daughter only to find her daughter wasn't there.
First-grader Tahara Michaux is supposed to be picked up by her mom every day, but when her mom arrived at Langley K-8 Friday afternoon, she claims her daughter was nowhere to be found.
"The teachers told me they couldn't find her," said Janae Michaux of Sheraden.
Michaux began searching the halls.
"I'm walking through the school crying. The teachers are looking at me," she said.
She and Tahara's grandmother tried not to think the worst.
"You hear horror stories about children being kidnapped and everything, so it was really scary," said Terri McIntyre, Tahara's grandmother. "I was sick to my sick to my stomach crying."
Turns out, when school let out, Tahara started walking home which is three and half blocks away and requires crossing several busy intersections.
Fortunately, an adult spotted Tahara, and sent her niece and daughter to walk Tahara home.
Since no one was inside her house, she wound up at a neighbors.
"I was eating a snack in their house," said Tahara.
A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson says a substitute teacher mistakenly allowed Tahara to leave with some other students.
While her mom says Tahara was missing for a half hour, the district says it was 10 minutes.
Also, the district says Tahara's mom being late also added to the confusion.
"I was only nine minutes late picking up my daughter," said Michaux. "She should have been at the school."
Michaux is pleased that the school's principal has called her, and she'll have a chance to voice her concerns over the school's dismissal policy at a meeting next week.
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