Two Mississauga families are demanding answers after their six-year-old sons wandered of school property last week during lunch recess.
Monica Magliocco said she received a call from the vice-principal of Janet I. McDougal Public School on Dec. 9.
“He asked me if my son was with me and I said ‘no, he’s at school,'” she said.
“He told me to get to the school. Deimos was not there.”
Not only was Deimos missing, but so was his classmate Lior. Lior’s mother, Hanit Betsalel, was also contacted by school staff.
“I thought they couldn’t find him for the lineup for the school bus,” Betsalel said.
“They called again to say they had no idea where he was.”
It’s unclear when school staff realized the children went missing.
The two Grade 1 students left during the lunch hour recess and didn’t return to class.
Betsalel and Magliocco said they weren’t contacted until approximately 3:45 p.m.
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“When we found out it had been two whole hours at that point it’s just nuts … It’s just a huge window for things to go wrong,” Betsalel said.
Peel police eventually located the two boys approximately four kilometres away from the school at Lior’s apartment near Dixie and Lakeshore roads.
“It was as if nothing happened. He’s six years old. They found him in the recreation centre at his friend’s building and they were playing ping pong,” said Magliocco.
It was a surprising discovery for Betsalel who said her son wasn’t familiar with the directions back home.
“It was bizarre because they told me he was home and we live so far away,” she said. “Luckily he wasn’t scared. He seemed to be OK. He knew how to cross the street.”
The parents of the two students said they wanted to see changes to processes to ensure children’s attendance is monitored throughout the day.
“I still have so many questions for the school, for the school board. How did this happen?” said Magliocco.
In a statement, Peel District School Board said, “on Friday, December 9, two Janet McDougald Public School students left school property during recess unattended. Local police located the students safe and unharmed.”
“School administration is currently conducting an investigation into the matter. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority,” the statement continued.
Global News reached out to Peel Region’s Children’s Aid Society and a spokesperson said the agency was unable to comment on specific cases.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the agency said, “where a concern involves a community caregiver (e.g. teachers, coaches, group home staff, etc.), the agency has a specific team that will assess the concern and, where needed, work with the caregiver/institution to ensure the safety and well-being of any children involved, including mitigating any future risk of harm to all children.”
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