Juneau School District officials have launched an investigation into an after-school care program at Gastineau Elementary School after two 5-year-olds went missing for three hours without anyone realizing it last week.
The boys, both in kindergarten, had accidently taken the after-school activity bus home, without permission slips, and were dropped off at a bus stop near their houses at 3:45 p.m., instead of being picked up at the school by their parents at 5 p.m., a preliminary investigative report from the school and obtained by the Empire said.
Their absence was not noted until the parents arrived at the school, the report indicated, even though three children were marked absent during snack time from 3:30-3:45 p.m.
“Of the three children, one child (was) picked up at 3:10 by parent; the other two boys are unaccounted for,” the report read.
One of the mothers, who declined to give her name, said in an interview last Thursday — the same day her son was missing — that she arrived at the school at 5 p.m. to pick him up from the Recreation, Arts, Learning, and Leadership for Youth, or RALLY program. He wasn’t there.
She asked one of the RALLY supervisors where he was.
“We haven’t seen him,” the mother recalled the teacher telling her.
Another mother, Ursula Sfraga, arrived about five minutes later, and knew by looking at her friend’s face that something was wrong.
“Ursula, they’re gone. They’re not here. They’re both missing,” Sfraga remembers the other mom telling her. Both their kids attended preschool together last year.
Sfraga ran outside to tell her husband, who was waiting in their vehicle, and all three of them searched the school grounds trying to find their children.
“I was hysterical, of course,” Sfraga said in an interview Wednesday. “I ran outside, then back inside and asked teacher when she last saw him,” she said.
The teacher told her she didn’t know and she thought she sent them to another activity group, Sfraga said.
While Sfraga and her husband and staff continued searching inside and outside of the school, a RALLY staffer suggested maybe they both accidentally took the activities bus, or after-school bus, home.
The other mother jumped in her car, raced home to see if her child was indeed at home, though it was locked, checking out possible bus stops on the way. She found Sfraga’s son, shivering on the front porch of his house, but not her own child. She returned Sfraga’s son to the school to his parents, and drove back to continue searching for her son. Eventually, he was found in the family’s doghouse with their dog in their backyard in the rain with no coat on.
The mother said the incident was traumatic for her son and that, “he was so scared he hid under the dining room table. He didn’t want to talk about it, it (took) forever to coax him out.”
Sfraga said the experience also left her usually talkative son mute and unable to look at any one for about an hour. When he finally spoke, he told his parents the bus dropped him off somewhere that looked familiar and he found his way home. It was locked, he began to cry and got scared, so he ate a snack and tried walking back to school. But by then, it was getting dark, and it was still raining and he thought he couldn’t make it. So he turned around once more, walked home, and sat on the front porch until the other mother found him.
“It was such an absolute nightmare,” Sfraga said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was just a horrible experience.”
The other mother echoed her sentiment, and said by phone, “This is a 5-year old we’re talking about, with no skills … He’s out there in the world all by himself, and the school doesn’t even know he’s gone.”
The children went unaccounted for about 2 hours and 45 minutes, but the unnamed mother said it felt like forever.
“It wasn’t just the time between when I found out he was gone — it was the fact that he had been missing for hours before I found out he was gone,” she said the same night as the incident.
JSD Communications Manager Kristin Bartlett said in an interview Wednesday that Wayne Hixson, the district supervisor of the RALLY program, which is under JSD’s administrative services branch, has personally apologized to the families, which the unnamed mother said she greatly appreciated.
“On behalf of the Juneau School District, I want to say how truly sorry we are for the distress this has caused for the students and families involved in this situation,” Bartlett added in an email Wednesday.
Hixson declined to be interviewed.
The investigation is still ongoing, but Bartlett said they have ruled out understaffing of the program as a contributing factor in the case.
Gastineau Elementary currently has one full-time certified staff member and one hourly aide on site for the 30 kids in the program each day, making the child-to-supervisor ratio 15:1. Enrollment is capped by Alaska law at 30 students per certified supervisor, Bartlett said.
Steps have already been taken to address what happened, Bartlett said, and an additional training day for all RALLY staff in the district on attendance policy and procedure was held on Monday. Hixson also addressed the matter at a site council meeting before parents and educators at the school on Monday.
Staff will be now required to take attendance more often throughout the entirety of the program, and attendance will have to recorded in writing, Bartlett said.
The boys may have been unaccounted for last Thursday during “transition time” from one room or group to another for activities, Bartlett said, so staff has been advised to take attendance before and after each transition.
“Student safety and security is absolutely our number one priority,” Bartlett said. “We’re taking steps to make sure this never happens again.”
One RALLY program operates out of each of the six elementary schools in the school district. They were established in the 1980s for latchkey kids, and the program is licensed by the state.
Both mothers described that day as a nightmare.
“When your child’s gone, it’s just like a bottomless pit and the world, you’re just falling into it,” the unnamed mother said last Thursday. “I still feel sick.”
She said she was yanking her son out of the program for the time being, and will probably hire a nanny to take care of him after school until the RALLY program regains her trust.
Sfraga says she has no choice but to leave her son in the program since both she and her husband work full-time jobs.
Both women said on Wednesday they are now taking a proactive approach in improving safety at the school and program. On Monday, they submitted a proposal on bus safety to parents of the school at an already-scheduled parent meeting. They are also organizing a safety committee, which the principal has expressed interest in, they said.
“It’s been very hellacious, the whole experience, but we’re trying to be positive,” Sfraga said. “It’s really hard to be, but obviously we don’t want this to happen to another child.”
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (53)
Add commentGastineau hasn't changed in 20 years
Interesting.....apparently Gastineau hasn't changed in 20 years....I had similar problems with them 20 years ago when my son was sent alone through the woods and eneded up lost and frightened. You would think they would learn and take the lives of our children seriously. Sad.
I don't get how 2 kids
I don't get how 2 kids "accidently" take the activities bus. That is flat-out ridiculous. Clearly their parents pick them up. Why would they even be out there?
"The teacher told her she didn’t know and she thought she sent them to another activity group"
She "thought"? She "THOUGHT"? - they're FIVE! You'd better do more than think!
There are so many things
There are so many things wrong with Rally that I dont even know where to begin
Deleted by user - Not worth
Deleted by user - Not worth it
15 elementary kids to one
15 elementary kids to one supervisor? What ratios do licensed daycares have to meet?
Are you kidding!!
As much as RALLY charges for childcare, they should make damn sure that all of the kids are accounted for! Especially the kinders! This is unacceptable.
All the good RALLY folks are gone
My daughter was in RALLY - 20 years ago. And it was a very good program, at least at Harborview. But that was when Ken was there. And Juan. And so many other good people. What happened?!?!
Well...
RALLY is a licensed child care facility that assumes responsibility for your children. In all reality, RALLY is run by the city and the city isn't ever liable for anything unless the circumstances are extreme. Any other licensed child care facility would be hung out to dry over this. Health and Human Services would have shut anyone else down and tanned some hides if this happened anywhere else. But since this is the city run program they are given the latitude to make simple mistakes like losing children.
FYI, I'm assuming these parents are paying for the kinder care and the regular after school care. That means that each of these parents paid the RALLY program $515 (unless they have child care assistance paying their bill for them in which RALLY still gets paid). I wonder if RALLY will refund the $10 per day charged for 1:30-2:30 kinder care and the $6.30 charged that day for 2:30-5:00. After all, it's not like RALLY was providing the children with a safe environment.
Shaquelim, licensed childcare
Shaquelim, licensed childcare is limited to 8 kids.
Its a district wide problem
I'd love to say that RALLY is entirely at fault here but... Where was school staff as all of this took place? Wasn't there a red flag for the bus driver when these little kids, who presumably never take the bus, got on? Why didn't the RALLY staff start making phone calls when these kids weren't there at snack? EPIC FAIL.
This is a district wide epidemic. Just last week, my kinder walked off school grounds. The week before that my kinder went missing when the school allowed another agency to pick him up without permission. I was panicked and furious when I was notified my child was gone.
I can't imagine how terrifying this was for these 5 year-olds. Thanks goodness they were smart enough to make it home. And in the case of the one kid, cuddle up with the dog to stay warm.
HBVW Rally
Harborview Rally is wonderful. Children are well taken care of, and the staff members are intelligent, caring and aware of each child.
It's terribly unfortunate that this happened, and I am glad to hear the children were not physically harmed. I hope the two boys recover from their scary incident.
aside from the screw up
I connect my boys w/a neighbor or 2 that are usually home..they know they can go there if they need to ...if they're locked out, need to make phone call, feel unsafe....if these little guys had felt they could go to a neighbor and call their parents it would have been much less traumatic for everyone. Give your kids the tools to take care of themselves
yeah ok
An apology wouldn't mean anything to me. Sure accidents happen all the time but this is two young children we are talking about. That school sure hasn't changed since my time there. Those poor kiddo's, I cannot imagine how scared they must have been. Yeah I am sure the apology made them feel better instantly........
Child care assistance:
Read this above (unless they have child care assistance paying their bill for them in which RALLY still gets paid). Who and what is this child care assistance? Where does this money come from? Haven’t heard of the program before.
Chile Care Assistance...
It is a program where if you make an amount of 75% of the state median household income based on family size, this program pays part of your RALLY bill. More information on this can be found at:
http://hss.state.ak.us/dpa/programs/ccare/
The calculator to find out if you qualify can be found at:
http://www.hss.state.ak.us/dpa/programs/ccare/files/CCAPFamilyIncomeCont...
Unfortunately, only licensed facilities can receive this. Recreational programs cannot. Therefore, I don't believe the Boy's and Girl's Club was able to receive this. The flaw in this system is that from what I've witnessed, sure, lower income families might have a co-pay of anywhere from $20 to a few hundred dollars to have child care, but families that make more than that 75% either have to pay full price or their children become latch key kids going home unattended at a very young age.
So parents who do not work are paying $20 per month for RALLY while parents who are working their tails off to support their families pay the full bill.
I'd sure like to know exactly what percentage of parents with their kids in RALLY are on daycare (child care) assistance.
City Hall...
Its a shame this time, two little boys were at risk, but CBJ can do no wrong. Even when they screw up, they'll find a way to make it someone else's fault, at least partially.
Its time for CBJ to be held accountable. If this was a private agency, they'd be all over them to make good on the mistake. You or I would have to pay fines, make staffing changes, add mounds of paperwork to that already required, and of course, have CBJ watching over your shoulder for years to follow.
Many examples around the Borough of CBJ not doing the right thing...this one catches public attention because two young children were involved. Thank goodness they're okay. CBJ - make the residents your priority...its time to make some changes.
Harborview RALLY Staff are fabulous
My daughter has been there for 2 years and the manager, Cheryl, is HYPER-vigilant about the comings and goings of children. I am more likely to be said to be overprotective than not and could not be happier with the program or the staff.
Easy Blame
The blame in this case is simple. It is the JSD and the CBJ. They have tried to cut as much staff and funding from RALLY; that it has come back to bite them in the rear. If the RALLY program could hire more staff, they would. However the JSD and CBJ should be held responsible and need to recognize the simple need for well staffed school (during and after school is in session).
Also...
I don't believe the bus line was at fault. CBJ contracts with First Student and I may be wrong but I don't believe the drivers working for this contract company take roll call for kids getting on the bus. I'm sure there are kids they do not recognize ride their buses all the time. I don't believe these roll calls are in the contract. As a contract company providing a certified bus driver and a bus to transport these children, I believe the school district is still ultimately responsible for who gets on those buses. But that doesn't relieve RALLY from doing the responsible thing and calling the parents and asking the question, "Were your kids in school today? Oh, they were? I'm sorry but they never showed up for RALLY." Maybe at this point they could have contacted First Student and the bus drivers and immediately located these children. This all began when RALLY failed to make two simple phone calls to the parents.
Follow-up
As one of the parents interviewed for this story, I’d like to say that quotes taken from me for the story were not vetted in print, and two quotes were not vetted. The two quotes that were not vetted do not accurately portrait the sentiments that I expressed. In paragraph seven, I’d like to clarify that the Rally employee did not simply state, “We haven’t seen him.” Everyone was shocked to find the boys missing. This was a traumatic experience for all involved, including Rally staff. Furthermore, in paragraph thirty three, I would like to clarify that it is out of my comfort zone to keep my child in Rally at this point. I’m sure that in time this will change. The Rally program provides a vital service for parents, with the express purpose of keeping our children safe after school while parents are still at work.
In addition, I spoke with both the reporter and deputy managing editor of the Empire last night to emphasize that this story has taken a positive turn. Parents are working with the school to further develop the safety initiative that was proposed at the Gastineau Site Council meeting on Monday night. In addition, the Rally program has been extremely responsive, and has provided both families with fully detailed timelines of the events leading up to, and following the children boarding the bus. The Rally program has also notified other Rally parents of this incident in a letter. Finally, we have invited the Empire to follow up on this story to report to the community how the school and parents are working collectively to not only prevent incidents like this from happening in the future, but also to strengthen the security of the school environment in other ways. Finally, I’d like to thank the teacher and Rally employee who contacted my home the evening of the event, as well as the Site Council members who were present on Monday night---they were truly supportive. I believe that collectively, we (the school and parents) will achieve a very positive outcome from what began as a very scary event.
ratios
childcare centers are
10-1 for kids over 5yrs..
under 5yrs its 6-1
under 2yrs its 4 -1
I have worked in several centers including, the Federal Building, and these were our ratios
Rally staff are paid 11.45 an hr.. some are older teens who would rather text on cell phones then watch our children. I have witnessed the Rally Aid in the AM in our school, she is too busy playing on the computer then watching the kids. She is maybe late 20's ish.. she has way too many kids to watch then allowed per ratio, and those kids range from kinders too 5th graders... the system for Rally seriously needs to be revamped and security of our children be many issue.
Lynette is a wonderful,
Lynette is a wonderful, caring, intelligent, nurturing woman. I bet she helped raise half of Juneau's youth between her involvement with Co-Op PreSchool and RALLY over the years. Mistakes happen. Walk into ANY school at ANY time of the day... there is a certain level of chaos. I'm sure the boys were traumatized, but why didn't the bus driver ask questions when he saw two, new, young faces without jackets/backpacks? Why did those boys think it was okay to "break the rules" and just take off? I think it was a lesson learned on all sides, and JPD needs to drop it.
**Also- Staff has been cut SO much at Gast. that there are 4 eyes watching over 30 children! There is no chance they can be 1-on-1 with students (esp. special needs students) . This incident was bound to happen. Take a look at staffing JSD.
CBJ? again?
wow I read this this morning and was disgusted! ( i have a 5 year old) its says staffing isn't the issue????? This reminds me of hearing about a 5 year old falling off a chair lift with no safety bar last season. Of course that wasn't anyone's fault either. I can only hope that someone losses a job over this....it isn't acceptable, the parents of these children are being amazing if it was my kid, someone would be paying some how! WTF people these are 5 year olds............not there fault at all, school is still new for them and only 2 months into it!
RALLY
I was employed at RALLY for two wonderful years, it was an amazing place to work and I loved it, the school where I was employed had a great staff and wonderful kids/ families, some of which I still Nanny/Babysit for. Sadly, my amazing place to work went down hill when the managment changed. There were bad changes made, and good staff lost, and I had to leave before my own posistion was cut. The program needs to be better than what it has become. Hopefully this issue will cause people to see that the program needs for more staff not less and place more accountibility on them. To lose 2 five years olds is unexceptable! I sincerely hope there is more in the game plan than just an apology and more attendance, more paper work wont help keep track of children, people paying attention will.
AK_Mom...I'm sure you took
AK_Mom...I'm sure you took your concerns about the RALLY staff you refer too to JSD. After all, if you're so concerned about the quality of care I'm certain you wouldn't leave other children at risk, right?
We've been very happy with the quality of the staff at Mendenhall River School.
Wren RE: Daycare Assistance
You were mostly right, with the exception being "parents who do not work are paying $20 per month for RALLY". If you are not working, or a FULL-TIME student, you do not qualify to receive day care assistance. Because, obviously, you do not need day care....
From the day care assistance website:
The Child Care Assistance Program provides assistance with child care expenses for eligible families who are working or participating in an education or training program.
The child to caregiver ratio
The child to caregiver ratio depends on the type of facility. 8 is for licensed home care. The state inspectors need to do their jobs and treat the rally program the same as all others regardless of the association with CBJ. There should be fines and increased staffing. The requirements are set as basic needs. The inspectors can require a higher standard if there is a need. The 30:1 ratio is for schools. Rally is a childcare that happens to operate in a school. Rally has to meet an 18:1 ratio for 6 and up and a 14:1 for the five year olds. As someone who has had experience with home childcare it has been noted that the state is more harsh on home childcare owners than any other type. I have talked with one facility owner that has never received the required surprise 6 month inspection in her 16+ years of operating in Juneau. no home base one can claim that.
AK-Mom
Thank you, akbrdguru, for that reminder...I re-read AK-Mom's post and I agree with you.
If people are so quick to ALLUDE to scary goings-on, I hope they have the guts to report them directly, because to gossip and spread fear without backing up your concerns with action is just wrong, especially when children are involved.
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Deleted by user - Not worth it