4-year-old wanders from school

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Education Writer

Rylan Kirkham's first day of class at Pauoa Elementary School ended with an unexpected adventure.

The 4-year-old kindergartner was supposed to go to the school's A-plus after-school program Tuesday but instead wandered off campus and was found by a neighbor, nearly two hours later. He was found in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lives with his parents, about a 10-minute walk from the school.

"That means he was wandering around God knows where," said Rick Kirkham, the boy's father.

Kirkham and his wife, Janice, kept Rylan at home yesterday while they sorted out what happened and to give their son, who seemed traumatized, a break. "He said, without any prompting, 'Pauoa not good for me,'" Rick Kirkham said.

Rick Kirkham said his son attended school orientation last week before starting classes. After classes ended about 2:15 p.m., Rylan was supposed to go with other children to the school's cafeteria for the after-school program, while students who were being picked up by parents or relatives went home.

But the boy apparently never made it to the cafeteria. A neighbor saw him in the apartment complex parking lot at about 4:20 p.m., took him inside, and called Janice Kirkham, who was at work.

Rick Kirkham, who was supposed to pick up his son from the program at about 5 p.m., said he went straight from work to the school once he heard from his wife. "My wife is a little meaner than me. She said I should have showed up and asked for my son," he said.

Gregg Lee, the school's principal, said he preferred not to discuss the incident other than to say he had spoken to Rick Kirkham and that the child would return to school and, he believed, the after-school program. "We've resolved it," Lee said.

Rick Kirkham, who works for Ohana Hearing Care, described the incident as "extreme negligence." He said he would bring Rylan back to Pauoa Elementary today but will have someone pick him up after classes. He said it will take some time before he trusts the after-school program again despite what he described as assurances from Lee about stronger supervision.

Rick Kirkham said he and his son had made the walk from home to school and back once before, and Rylan seemed to describe using the crosswalk when he told his father about his adventure. Rick Kirkham considers it "an act of God" that his son made it home safely.

"He's our one and only son, and we could have lost him," Rick Kirkham said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.