Parent claims child left outside at Glenn High School; school district responds

FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — The parents of a 7-year-old boy want to know how their son ended up outside under a tree in front of a school instead of inside at an after-school program.

Kevin Baker says that when he arrived at Glenn High School in Kernersville on Monday afternoon, staff members didn’t know where his son Korey was.

Baker said his son is part of the highly academically gifted program at Brunson Elementary School which offers after-school transportation to GHS.

While at GHS, staff members watch students like Korey until their parents pick them up.

“When I walked in, I didn’t see him … The lady in the hallway heard my conversation and said, ‘The kids are usually dropped off with me, and these are the only two kids I have,'” Baker said.

Baker says he was frantic and searched for his son for several minutes.

“My world seemed to start closing in on me because I didn’t know where he was. He didn’t have a cell phone, so I couldn’t reach out and give him a call,” Baker said.

Eventually, Baker says he found his son under a tree in front of the school. The 7-year-old claims he was not escorted into the school and did not see any adults when he got off the bus.

FOX8 reached out to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools about these claims, and they sent the following statement:

According to our records, the student was dropped off at Glenn High School. The SRO and administrators were there and watched as the student entered Glenn. The student’s monitor saw him arrive and accounted for him. The student was NOT left at an empty school. There were adults present at all times.

At some point, the student walked outside and went to sit underneath a tree. This should not have happened, and steps have been put in place so this will not happen again.

WS/FCS

FOX8 asked a district spokesperson if they had reviewed surveillance video from the building of what occurred.

The spokesperson was adamant the 7-year-old did go into the building.

They said they received all their information from the seven administrators and one monitor.

After all the information the school system provided about what happened, Baker says he still believes his son never went inside.

They say their investigation is now focused on how the child exited the school without a supervisor knowing.

On Tuesday, Corey’s parents say the child was escorted into GHS by a monitor.

Both sides say they’ve had ongoing conversations with Transportation Director Tisha Davidson about what led to this and how to prevent it from happening again.

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