CHARLESTON – The parents of a 6-year-old Mary Ingles Elementary kindergartener claim the boy was allowed to leave school unsupervised in August and was found crying by a stranger who took him home.
Hunter Lowery and Ariel Caldwell, parents of a child identified only as E.L., filed the civil lawsuit September 23 in Kanawha Circuit Court against have the Kanawha County Board of Education, teacher Rachel Lewis, early childhood classroom assistant Christa Cottrell and MIES Principal Cynthia Schilling.
According to the complaint, E.L. was dropped off at the school in Tad about 7 a.m. August 31. A short time later, the lawsuit says, he was directed or permitted to take his belongings to a locker about 50 yards from his classroom without adult supervision.
The child then allegedly walked through the school’s front entrance and off campus without intervention by school personnel. According to the complaint, he headed toward a local church before a stranger found him crying. The child told the stranger he wanted to go home, asked her not to kidnap him and gave directions to his residence, the suit says.
The stranger returned the child home at about 7:43 a.m., according to the filing. Lowery was notified by school personnel at about 7:40 a.m. that his child was missing, the complaint says. School personnel reportedly told him E.L. had run from the school and that three employees pursued but could not catch him.
The parents accuse the school system and employees of negligence and seeks to hold the board responsible for alleged negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention as well as for employees’ actions within the scope of their work.
It contends the board failed to establish, implement and enforce safeguards to prevent a young child from leaving a supervised area and exiting school property without adult intervention. It also alleges that Lewis, Cottrell and Schilling failed in their respective supervision and safety responsibilities.
The suit says the defendants knew or should have known a 6-year-old required close adult oversight and that allowing such a child to travel alone through the school created a foreseeable risk that the child could become separated from staff, leave school grounds, get lost or otherwise suffer harm.
“Each failure compounded the next,” the complaint states, alleging inadequate classroom supervision, a failure to secure the grounds and an inadequate emergency response placed the child at risk of traffic dangers and strangers.
The parents seek compensatory damages for alleged emotional and psychological injuries, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and other losses. The complaint also seeks punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and pre- and post-judgment interest.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Michael Cary of Cary Law Office in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Judge Jennifer F. Bailey.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 26-C-1162
