Parents concerned after first grader walks out of Fall River elementary school

Fall River Police responded to an elementary school on Monday after a student went missing.

According to William Greene School, a first grader walked out of the building without his class or an adult as children were preparing for the end of the day routines. The student was reportedly at his locker and wandered off with another student alerting staff to what had occurred.

According to a memo, officials immediately began searching both inside of the building and around the outside perimeter of the building. The Fall River Police Department was also called to the scene.

Police say that the child was located unharmed shortly after they arrived and was returned to his parents safely.

Several parents voiced their concern over the incident, wondering how it was allowed to happen. One of those parents was Gina Hinckley.

“I, as a parent of a Greene School student, wonder how that happened and I am now concerned it could happen again. As we were picking our kids up police were asking parents if we’d seen the little boy. No one called his mom to say he was missing. She found out when she came to pick him up and he wasn’t there. There are supposed to be alarms on all the doors. Not sure if they weren’t on or if he got out the front door which has no alarm. What terrifies me is how easy it was for him to walk away & no one noticed.”

According to the memo that was released by Principal Elizabeth Dunn, once the student was safely located, officials met as a team and reviewed the safety procedures and protocols.

“We will continue to review the processes of monitoring the main entrance where the incident occurred. In addition, we will meet with the district to ensure the ongoing safety of our building. Our first priority is to keep all children safe. I want to emphasize that this was an isolated situation and all Greene staff are poised to keep all children safe at our school.”

We contacted Dunn about the incident and have yet to receive a response.