6-year-old mistakenly allowed to walk home alone; Jonesboro family responds

Family: School lost their 6-year-old daughter

A Clayton County family say they have lost confidence in the district school system to keep their daughter safe after they say the district sent the 6-year-old walking in the community, when she was actually a car rider. They say they are more than grateful to the guardian angel who saw the child wandering with nowhere to go and walked her safely back to George Kilpatrick Elementary School in Jonesboro.

JONESBORO, Ga. - A Jonesboro family says their first day of school turned into a nightmare after their 6-year-old daughter was mistakenly released from George Kilpatrick Elementary School to walk home alone, despite being registered as a car rider.

Elementary school lost daughter, family says

What they're saying:

Reginald Carroll said he was waiting in the car rider line on Monday afternoon when he realized something was wrong.

"I sat in the back of the car rider line for about five minutes and realized they lost her. They told me they put the walker sticker on her, so that was alarming there," Carroll said.

His daughter, Ra’Niya Carroll, a first-grade honor roll student, had been misidentified as a walker and allowed to leave the school. The Carrolls say they had completed paperwork during the school’s open house clearly stating she was to be picked up by car.

"The school doesn’t know where she is, and I don’t know where she is. That’s not a good feeling," Carroll said.

George Kilpatrick Elementary School A-honor roll first-grader Ra'Niya Carroll. (FOX 5 Atlanta obtained permission from the rights holder.)

His wife, Kenyetta Carroll, described the panic that followed.

"For a good 30 minutes to an hour, we didn’t know where she was, and that feeling I don’t want another parent to feel. It was the most horrible feeling ever," she said.

The Carrolls credit a good Samaritan with intervening after spotting Ra’Niya walking along busy Tara Road. The unidentified parent reportedly escorted the child back toward the school, where she was eventually reunited with her family.

"I can’t wait to see her again. She definitely was an angel because that could have gone totally left field," Carroll said.

The Carrolls say this isn’t the first time a transportation mix-up has happened. On the first day of school last year, Ra’Niya was placed on the wrong bus. This time, they reported the situation to Clayton County Police.

"The first time it happened, it shouldn’t have happened. It was a mistake the first time. But this time we said we cannot let this happen to another parent. We cannot let this take place again," Kenyetta Carroll said.

Clayton County Schools responds

The other side:

Clayton County Public Schools confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the student had been "misidentified as a walker during dismissal." The district added that the child "was just a short distance from campus" when a good Samaritan helped return her safely.

"We are actively investigating the matter to review and reinforce our dismissal protocols with all school staff to prevent future occurrences," the district stated. "We emphasize the importance of community involvement and a supportive village in working in collaboration with the school district to ensure the safety of all students."

As the investigation continues, CCPS declined further comment.

Unenrolling from magnet program?

What's next:

The family is weighing whether to remove their daughter from the school’s dual language magnet program. Kenyetta Carroll said she suffered an anxiety attack just thinking about what happened and expects to make a final decision in the coming weeks.