Schools

Dad: Disabled Student Went Missing From School

Father says autistic son walked out of school undetected.

This story was written and reported by Edward Robinson. Jason Molinet contributed to the report.

A Plainedge Middle School student was able to walk out of school undetected  Wednesday, and was found outside the building after Nassau police were notified, school officials said.

The student who went missing, Paul Parisi, is a severely autistic 10-year-old boy, his father Anthony said.

"Someone needs to be held accountable for the incident," he said.

Police were tight-lipped about what happened, saying they responded to the middle school Wednesday on the first day of class after being called there on a report of a missing student. Cops said the student was found shortly after they arrived and nobody was charged in the incident.

Plainedge school superintendent Dr. Edward Salina, Jr, said, "the child was found by a staff member."

Parisi, 41, said his son Paul , who turned 10 that day, was discovered in a yard a couple of blocks away from the school.

"They called us at about 1:40 p.m., we  live about 3 or 4 minutes from the school, and we got there right away" the father said.

Parisi said he saw the school principal and teachers outside the building searching for Paul, and he told them "Call 911!"  

"I told them if he's in a pool, there's going to be a tragedy," Parisi said.

Police came a few minutes afterward and began a search. Parisi joined the search himself, saying he checked side streets along Stewart Avenue near Hempstead Turnpike.

The father said those in the neighborhood told him they were asked to contact the school district if they saw the child, with no mention of 911.

About 20 minutes after police arrived and 45 minutes after he went to the schoool, Parisi said he went back to the school to see his wife.

"She said, 'They found Paulie,'" Parisi said, adding that police drove up with the boy a few minutes later.

"He was dehydrated," Parisi said. "He kept saying 'french fry,' he was hungry and he had gone to the bathroom on himself."  

The father said he took the boy to Burger King and brought Paul home. There appeared to be no lingering affects from the incident.

Parisi went back to the school a few hours later to ask school officials what happened and he was told that security footage revealed that his son walked out through a side door of the building.

The child, who's in 5th grade, is assigned to a special education classroom with five other students and six adults in the room. Parisi said his son was assigned to a teacher who works with Paul on a one-on-one basis. The father said a school official indicated that the incident occurred at lunchtime and it wasn't immediately clear to Parisi who if anyone was in charge of watching Paul when he walked out.

Dr. Salina issued a statement, saying, "On Sept. 4, Plainedge Middle School alerted Nassau County Police Department of a possible missing student. The student's parents were immediately notified and the district is relieved to report that the child was found in the vicinity of the building by a staff member and returned home safe with their parents."

The superintendent insisted that officials contacted Nassau Police immediately and that the district is conducting an internal investigation on the matter.  Schools will be closed Thursday and Friday for Rosh Hashanah.

Parisi says he's trying to get further information form police about when they were alerted.


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