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Waldorf Kindergartner Walks Out of School

posted 3:43 pm Thu May 08, 2008 - WALDORF, Md.

tags: child • kindergartner •

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ABC 7 News - Waldorf Kindergartner Walks Out of School

A Waldorf kindergartner walked out of school and down the road, nearly a mile, to her house. Her mother is furious and wants answers to how this could have happened.

Tina Marie Sweeney made sure her six-year-old daughter gets to and from school safely, but Wednesday, the little girl had a frightening trip home."I'm upset because my kindergarten daughter, LeeAnn Sweeney, walked home from school after I dropped her off at school."

Sweeney said LeeAnn left C. Paul Barnhart Elementary shortly after she dropped her off and apparently without anyone noticing the little girl, she walked out of the school and off the property. She also said LeeAnn told her that she wanted to go home after the principal reprimanded her. School officials found out LeeAnn was gone, only after a concerned parent called about a little girl wandering near a busy street.

Gary Sweeney couldn't believe his ears when he got word of what happened, "When I received a phone call from the school I didn't know what to do. I almost fell back and said 'hey don't you want to go get her, I'm forty miles away from home.' How am I going to get her."

After walking close to a mile, LeeAnn found her neighborhood and her house. Her mother was haunted by what could have happened to the six-year-old walking all alone traversing busy streets.

"There is people doing construction work, anybody could have picked her up she could have gotten hit. She was afraid of not knowing what to do, where to go, what happens if I wasn't home."

Sweeney said she called the school repeatedly to complain but hadn't gotten an explanation or an apology.

The Charles County School system said the little girl was dropped off a few minutes too early and that usually there is someone who watches the door. They also said one they were notified that the LeeAnn was missing, the principal dispatched a school counselor to try to find her.

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ABC 7 Talkback: Waldorf Kindergartner Walks Out of School

Toye

2:22 pm on 05/09/08

This is crazy and really a shame that the news would post something and not have all of the facts. I always thought that the news was a place to see and hear the truth and not try to make people or places something they are not, that is for the magazines to do. I'm very familar with the school and actually was an employee for 2 years until just recently , and everyone knows that children are not to be dropped off just becuase of this reason early. If LeAnn's mother had walked her into the school or even waited until school hours began she would have been fine. This is the reason parents have before and after care and if you need those services you will need to pay for that, I guess mom didn't want to cough up the money for that . Mr. Rosin is a wonderful principal and it is a shame that these false allegations about him and the school are being made so public. I think that you should really get both sides before you make someone look like the villian. What is this world coming to. I will have to pray for the people who take other people's kindness and just stomp on it without even blinking an eye.

Also in regards with Charles County Public Schools we should all be very thankful to have a school system like this one. My daughter attends a nice school in the county and it is very rewarding to know that she will be taken care of in all aspects. The staff at Barnhart are loving,caring,and take care of all the children there. Maybe the news needs to think about more positives things to cover about schools and not reflect so much on the negative. That would be a change, hu

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