Portland Public Schools told KOIN that a new safety plan was in place for Ginsburg after the Sept. 9 incident. The district said it would provide KOIN a written response, but had not done so by publication, according to the station’s report: KOIN. His mother, Erin McDonald-Wentzell, kept him home for nearly two weeks while arranging other child care and seeking answers. She said she wants him back in school, with greater transparency from the district.
Ginsburg, a 5-year-old nonverbal kindergartner with level-two autism, attends Grout Elementary in Southeast Portland. According to KOIN, surveillance footage placed him on the school playground at 9:38 a.m. on Sept. 9 and near an entry door 29 seconds later. His mother told the station he left through an open playground gate and reached traffic on Holgate Boulevard.
KOIN reported that the first 911 call came at 9:42 a.m. about a young child crossing Holgate Boulevard. Other callers updated the child’s location as officers were dispatched at 9:45 a.m. The call was cleared at 9:47 a.m., after a caller said the child was with a school principal and police were no longer needed.
Accounts differ on how long Ginsburg was outside. McDonald-Wentzell told KOIN the footage showed about four minutes outside and included a separate five-minute gap. The district told the station the incident lasted about four minutes from when he left the playground until it ended. His mother also told KOIN that he had reached the street on Sept. 3 before staff brought him back, and that she had raised safety concerns before he began kindergarten. She said his individualized education program had identified the risk of him wandering away.
Portland Public Schools’ safety-planning guidance says plans should be developed collaboratively with students and caregivers and reviewed as needs change: district guidance.
How district guidance addresses elopement
The district’s published materials identify elopement, or running away, as a behavior for which its Plan for Managing Escalating Behaviors may be used, according to Portland Public Schools. Its guidance also calls for caregiver collaboration and reviewing plans as needs change.
