The Saugus Union School District rejected a claim during Tuesday’s closed session filed by the family of a 5-year-old boy who left campus unnoticed and was later found wandering about a mile away from the school last year.
Reporting out of closed session, Saugus governing board President Matthew Watson stated that the claim was rejected on a 4-0 vote. Board member Anna Griese was absent.
Pam Dall, district Superintendent Colleen Hawkins’ executive secretary, said on Wednesday the district could not comment on the matter due to pending litigation.
On Nov. 4, Oliver Epstein, a 5-year-old student at North Park Elementary School, was located by the family nanny alone and unsupervised near a McDonald’s about a mile away from the school site. He was supposed to be at the after-school program.
When Natalie Epstein, the mother of Oliver, called the after-school program to check in with staff over their son, the supervisor stated that Oliver was indeed in their care, but meanwhile was already in the nanny’s car on his way home, according to the family’s complaint.
According to Oliver’s father, Brett Epstein, the child was dismissed from classes at about 12:20 p.m., and he was found alone about three hours later.
If Oliver wouldn’t have been spotted by his nanny, “We would have had a missing kid’s case. He could have been abducted. He could have been hit by a car,” Epstein told the board during public comment in a Nov. 18 meeting. “Thank God he wasn’t killed or abducted, because this whole story would have been a lot different.”
Brett called the incident gross negligence and a critical safety failure during that same meeting.
A claim in relation to the incident was filed on Jan. 15 by the Epstein family’s attorney, Brett Greshko. That claim was rejected in closed session during Tuesday’s meeting.
The district did acknowledge the incident in an emailed statement last year that read, “Unfortunately, there was a recent incident involving a student in our after-school program. When district staff was alerted to the situation, an investigation into the incident was immediately conducted after confirming that the child was safe and with their family.”
It added: “Based on what we learned from this incident, appropriate corrective action has been taken including, but not limited to, improvements in student supervision protocols and in securing facilities. We are thankful that the student was safely found as we understand the seriousness of the situation. Further, we regret the concern and frustration this incident caused for the family. As this incident involves both personnel and pupil matters, additional comment cannot be made at this time.”
Saugus District governing board president Matthew Watson, and Greshko, the Epstein family attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
