A Louisiana father is upset after his son’s school allegedly allowed a substitute teacher to walk his child home without his permission.
Christopher Johnson said on May 18 his five-year-old son missed his bus at J. F. Kennedy Elementary School that would normally take him home.
However, instead of Johnson receiving a call from the school to let him know what happened, he said a substitute teacher walked his son home.
“My son said [the school] told him to go with [the teacher],” Johnson told KPLC, an affiliate of NBC News. “The bus leaves at 2:50 p.m. So you mean to tell between 2:50 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. [they] couldn’t make one phone call before letting him walk away with a stranger?”
According to KPLC, the teacher lives near the Johnsons.
“I can’t even rationalize it because regardless of whether he lives close, or regardless of if he was a substitute teacher: he did not have any right to take my child from school,” said Johnson to KPLC.
Johnson also claimed the teacher left his son to roam the neighbourhood after no one answered the family’s house door.
He also said it was a “bad 20 minutes… pacing back-and-forth” asking for God to watch over his son because of the potential danger “out there.”
The boy was found at a neighbour’s home a short time later.
“Not only could something dangerous happen but it’s just the stress you can put the parent through,” Johnson said.
Now, Johnson and his wife want answers and an apology from the school.
“I would like for them to explain to me that this will never happen again, that this will definitely never happen again.”
It’s not clear who gave the substitute permission to take the boy home.
The school board told KPLC they are aware of the incident and that it’s currently under investigation.
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