VNL Whistleblower: Moorhead mom speaks out after 7-year-old son leaves school unnoticed

MOORHEAD, M.N. (Valley News Live) - A Moorhead mom has spoken out after her seven-year-old son left Robert Asp Elementary School unnoticed on Thursday. Destiny Williams said she was on her way to pick up her son for an appointment when she got a call stating her son was wandering around away from the school.

“This is not ok. My seven-year-old was out wondering on a busy road by himself.” said Williams.

Williams later found him a couple of blocks away on a busy street. According to Williams, the school at first had no idea her son had left.

“The school didn’t even know that they lost my child,” said Williams. “I think that’s what got me the most, is that they didn’t even know he wasn’t there anymore. How did that go unnoticed, I just don’t understand.”

Now Williams wants answers on why and how her son had left the school without being noticed. Because to her, anything could have happened to her child while he was out there alone.

”I don’t ever want a parent to ever go through what I went through. Granted mine lasted a total of seven minutes, but that was the worst seven minutes of my life,” said Williams. “You’re in the office, how did he go unseen. That was my main thing, how did a seven-year-old get out of school with nobody noticing him.”

We reached out to Moorhead Area Public Schools about the situation, and they acknowledged a student left the school. Here is their full statement:

A situation occurred on Thursday, September 1 at Robert Asp Elementary School in which a student left the building for an appointment before the parent arrived. Standard procedure is for the front office staff to ensure parents are physically present before students are released from their classroom. Moorhead Area Public Schools is committed to the safety and wellbeing of our students and are reviewing our protocols to ensure this does not happen again. - Moorhead Area Public Schools in a statement to Valley News Live.

Williams said her son told her that he was told to leave. Williams wants an apology to her and her son after this traumatizing incident.

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