INDIANAPOLIS – The mother of a 7-year-old student who went missing for six hours said Friday Indianapolis Public Schools needs to improve its protocols and procedures when it comes to counting students and locating missing children.
Trenton, a 1st grader at Christian Park School 82 on the east side, went missing just after dismissal Monday afternoon and wasn’t located until 9:45 pm.
“How can you lose a 7-year-old child?” said Julia Moore, Trenton’s mother. “That blows my mind. With so many staff and teachers around, I’m speechless when it comes to that.”
Trenton’s mother, Julia Moore, said it was actually another student who found Trenton sleeping underneath some bean bags in the classroom.
“He was scared, and it was dark, so he turned up the heat and hid in the bean bags,” said Moore.
Moore said when her son didn’t get off the school bus at 4 pm, she immediately contacted the school, and worried Trenton wouldn’t be found alive.
“It was pretty scary,” said Moore. “I was freaking out and telling them, he’s not on the bus, he’s not here.”
School personnel and police searched the school, school buses, transportation centers, and even performed house to house searches looking for the 1st grader.
The district and the school did not utilize social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to try to locate the student on Monday.
“They reach out through social media to let you know the buses are going to run late, but there was nothing on him being gone,” said Moore. “It was poor protocol on IPS, it was them not counting kids and not making sure they’re accounted for.”
Moore said a substitute teacher insisted Trenton had gotten on the bus.
“She said she tapped him on the head and personally put him on the bus,” said Moore.
Police said adding to the confusion, was a student who looks very similar with a similar coat had left the building, according to the police report.
Trenton told Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney he was not joking, and was very scared while inside the classroom.
“I was in there for nearly 7 hours and it was scary,” said Trenton.
Trenton said the teacher left, and locked him out of the room.
Investigators looked at camera footage and found that the boy did not seek help from staff members that entered the room after dismissal, and that the student was able to leave the room and returned again on his own free will.
Moore disputed that, and said school personnel will not let her look at the footage.
“He said never once did anybody come in there,” said Moore.
IPS School Police also maintain the child was not locked out, according to the police report.
It’s unclear if any IPS staff have been disciplined over the incident.
Moore said she also wanted to share her story because many are saying on social media that Trenton hid because he was scared to go home.
“He absolutely loves home and has such a great life here,” said Moore. “He loves to come home and play with his siblings.”
The district did not provide someone to go on camera Thursday, but they did provide a copy of their missing child protocol.
Current procedure involves retracing bus routes, interviewing the last people to see the child, and calling hospitals.
IPS released this statement Thursday afternoon:
“After receiving word that a student did not arrive home from school as expected, school staff promptly followed district protocol to report the incident and search for the student. After multiple aggressive searches of the building and homes in the area, the student was found in a classroom. We are thankful the student was safe, and commend our school, transportation and safety staff for their diligent efforts to locate the student.”
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