Teachers suspended after 7 toddlers found wandering in traffic

[Stevicus]

Teachers suspended after unsupervised toddlers leave Gilbert preschool, nearly hit by cars

PHOENIX – Seven toddlers, some possibly as young as 18 months, wandered away from a Gilbert preschool and into traffic Friday morning, prompting motorists to hit their brakes and round them up.

Samantha Crouch told The Arizona Republic she was driving northbound on Val Vista Drive when she noticed cars stopping and honking their horns.

When she looked out her window, she noticed two toddlers on the street. One of them was using a yellow push toy, she said.

The children had escaped out a gate at the Little Sunshine's Playhouse & Preschool in Gilbert.

Apparently, the staff from the day care center didn't even realize the children had gotten out.

When Crouch spoke to a staff member, she said, they told her that they didn't know the children were missing and that the campus's gate latch is "confusing."

"They didn't even know the kids were gone until I pounded on the lobby door screaming," she wrote.

Crouch is the mother of a 22-month-old child and said the incident left her "terrified."

"It made me sick to my stomach," she said. "I immediately called my kid's day care saying: 'Hey, is everything going OK? Just give them an extra hug for me.'"

They said the gate latch was "confusing" and somehow malfunctioned.

Fortunately, no one was injured.

Gilbert Police spokesman Sgt. Mark Marino said police were investigating the incident, which happened at around 9:45 a.m. and was the result of a "structural failure" with the school's gate.

Seven kids were pushing against the gate latch and it broke, allowing them to walk out and off campus, Marino said.

He said the gate was out of the view of the adults watching that particular outdoor play area. Two of the children made their way to a bike lane in the street, Marino said.

"Fortunately, motorists being aware stopped and were able to wrangle the kids," he said.

In an email to The Republic on Friday, the school said the situation was "immediately" brought to staff attention and no children were injured.

They've since had the gate fixed, and they're now installing a gate alarm system.

The school said in an email to parents Friday that it completed a perimeter check of the school, including the fence and gate, which ultimately led them to agree with the Gilbert Police Department's conclusion that the gate had failed. The issue has since been fixed, and the gate and its double latch system are now working correctly, the school added.

Additionally, the school told parents it purchased and will soon install a gate alarm system that gives off "a loud audible alarm" every time the gate is opened. Children will not be allowed on the playground until the alarm is installed, the school said.

But even without the alarm or surveillance system, it seems that someone should have been out in the yard watching the kids. That they could just get out and wander the streets with no one from the school even noticing makes me think they didn't have someone posted to watch the exits. Or maybe they assumed that they couldn't get out the "confusing" gate.

Even then, you have to admire the ingenuity and cooperative nature of the kids, just toddlers. 7 of them combining their strength and working together - "We're bustin' outta this joint!"

 

[Stanyon]

Maybe shock collars would have worked

 

[Estro Felino]

 

[Stevicus]

Maybe shock collars would have worked

For the teachers?

 

[Revoltingest]

Even then, you have to admire the ingenuity and cooperative nature of the kids, just toddlers. 7 of them combining their strength and working together - "We're bustin' outta this joint!"

Reminds me of....