Posted on: Saturday, October 2, 2004

Teachers don't see toddlers walk out

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

State child welfare officials are investigating an August incident in which three toddlers wandered away from Kama'aina Kids preschool in 'Ewa and were not missed by school employees until they were returned by workers from a nearby social service agency.

The two boys and a girl, each 2 years old, walked away from the school's playground, crossed a parking lot and wound up outside the offices of the state's Child Welfare Services.

Those offices are part of the building complex that includes Kama'aina Kids, according to the girl's parents and school staff.

No child was injured.

The incident occurred Aug. 12 at the preschool, at 91-1841 Fort Weaver Road.

A spokeswoman with the state Department of Human Services, which regulates childcare centers and preschools, said yesterday that it will investigate, but declined further comment.

A preschool official said that the children were gone for only minutes and that the director and three teachers have been disciplined, but all remain on the staff.

The girl's mother, Michellei Quidilla, said she is upset at how easily the three children left the school's grounds and at what she called insufficient information provided by the school.

Quidilla learned of the incident when she received a letter from the preschool the day after the incident, but said the letter was misleading and lacked details.

She said the incident frightened her because the children wandered through a crowded parking lot to get to the CWS building, which she said is next to a ravine. She said if the three had walked in the other direction, they may have wound up on busy Fort Weaver Road.

"... There are so many obstacles. These little ones going in the parking lot," she said. "The path that they took is much longer than the path if they would have just walked forward onto the highway. And the school didn't even know that they were missing."

Ray Sanborn, Kama'aina Kids president, said the children walked out of a gate that surrounds the playground and the teachers were not aware the children walked away. He said he did not know how long the children were missing, but said it "was minutes."

Sanborn said there were eight children on the playground who were being supervised by three teachers. When the three children walked off, Sanborn said, the teachers were busy tending to a child with a bloody nose and another who needed a diaper change.

"The teachers were distracted and (the children) headed out," he said. "They were brought back just as the teachers realized we didn't have these kids."

Sanborn said he has met with the parents of the children and he knows that Quidilla isn't satisfied with the information the school has provided. But he said that at the time the letter was sent to the parents, the preschool's director did not know how far the children had wandered.

Quidilla said her daughter, Taylor, had been with Kama'aina Kids since she was 5 months old. But Quidilla said she pulled her daughter out of the program this week after she found out details of the incident.

Quidilla said the school informed the parents in the letter that their children got out of the playground and were unsupervised.

The letter said school officials noticed the three were gone and found them in the community center.

But Quidilla said her sister-in-law works for Child and Family Services, which also is in

the same 'Ewa complex, and the sister-in-law heard from CWS workers that they found the children and returned them to Kama'aina Kids.

"The kids went up the second-floor building and (Child Welfare) workers picked them up. They tried to figure out where they came from," she said. "The school didn't know they were missing until they were brought back."

Sanborn also said the school has made the playground gates more secure and the staff has gone through training classes to prevent a recurrence.

"Our belief is that we're educators and I think the staff learned from this experience. They are going to be twice as aware of where their kids are and how to deal with a crisis situation that is distracting them," Sanborn said.

Although Taylor Quidilla has left the school, Sanborn said he hopes to use a mediator to resolve lingering issues with her parents. He said the two boys remain at the school.

Michellei Quidilla said the school began to investigate the matter after only she filed a complaint with the DHS.

She said she doubts that her daughter will return to the school.

"It's like they took it so lightly," Quidilla said.

"She was there from 5 months old, and that's the sad part.

She loves her school, she loves her teachers. The two boys that were involved, they've been together since they were babies and now I have to take her out."

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.