The mother of a second grader blames a breakdown in school safety protocol for the disappearance of her daughter who walked out of Village Elementary and was found almost an hour later near the Coronado Bridge.
Veronica Lawrence, mom of seven-year-old Aurelia, addressed the trustees of the Coronado Unified School District at the school board meeting on October 17. She said that a week ago, she endured every parent’s worst nightmare: her daughter had gone missing. She held up a cell phone with a picture of her daughter.
“I got a phone call from Village Elementary, alerting me that they couldn’t find Aurelia at school,” she said. “My heart sank.”
Fortunately, her daughter had an Apple AirTag which she wore around her wrist. When Lawrence checked her phone, she could see that her daughter was about a mile away from school.
“I instantly panicked and thought she must have been kidnapped,” she told the trustees.
Lawrence says she called her husband and told him there was an emergency and to come home. She then called 911 to update authorities with a new location, and realized her daughter was moving towards the Coronado Bridge.
She asked the authorities to shut the bridge down, sure her daughter had been abducted.
Thankfully, authorities found her at the base of the bridge by the golf course, on foot, unharmed. 40 minutes had passed from the time she went missing to the time she was found, according to Lawrence.
Lawrence’s statement begins at 2:07. The full CUSD meeting video can be viewed here.
Later, her daughter shared how she got off campus: she simply pushed open a gate and walked out. Turns out, the gate she used on the H street side of campus was an egress gate, which must legally remain unlocked in case of emergency, according to Maria Simon, Public Information Officer for CUSD.
School security cameras show the child pushing open the gate, walking in and out several times until the gate clicked and she was locked outside. She is then seen walking away from the school and past Coronado Middle School.
“In 40 minutes, she got to the Coronado bridge,” said Lawrence. “As excruciating as this is for me and my family, I have to use my voice to let you know that this can never happen again to any child, at any school, anywhere. Especially at Village, which is one of the safest, most beautiful communities we have.”
In an email addressed to classroom parents, the school principal, Peter Kuhns, and the superintendent, Karl Mueller, Lawrence says she met with district leaders who agreed there was a failure of campus security and procedure. This includes having a gate unlocked and unmonitored, an unorganized search, failure to check school cameras, and not notifying the parent immediately.
Lawrence also said that it took too long for administration to contact the school resource officer and the Coronado Police Department. While the teacher notified administration right away when her daughter didn’t return from recess, the authorities were not called until later.
Meanwhile, her daughter was crossing the busy intersection on Orange Avenue, and heading down towards the golf course on fifth street, according to Lawrence.
“I want the school and people in charge of the safety of our children to take the appropriate measures to make sure this never happens again,” she wrote in the email.
Superintendent Mueller said that the safety of all Coronado Unified School District students is the district’s highest priority. He said the incident was terrifying for all involved, and the district is taking immediate action to prevent something like this from happening again.
“We acknowledge the fear and anxiety this incident has caused and regret that it happened,” said Mueller. “We want to assure our school community that we will continue to examine and strengthen elements of our safety, security and emergency operations.”
Mueller said that the district’s maintenance and operations crew were at Village Elementary the very same day, installing new alarms on the egress gates. And while in this incident, district-wide safety protocols were indeed followed, the district decided to implement some impactful changes after a post-incident evaluation.
“Our team has examined the timeline of this unfortunate and alarming situation and determined that while the missing child protocol was followed, our timeline for on-campus searches was not tight enough,” said Mueller. “As a result, the protocols and timelines have been adjusted to involve CPD and parent notifications immediately.”
When it comes to communication, Simon said that the district tries to balance what is appropriate to share with the community, and what is a confidential matter.
“All parents were notified of revised missing student protocols, and a need to reinforce with their children to never run or hide from staff, or leave campus alone,” said Simon. “While this incident was specific to a single student, because it involved a breach in security, a more specific email with a wider audience will be used in the future.”
Lindsey Colburn, president of the Village Elementary PTO, says that she is hopeful for the updated safety policies and procedures as well as improved communication.
“I’m heartbroken for the family who went through this experience,” she said. “I look forward to receiving more prompt and transparent communication from the district should another crisis occur in our schools.”
Lawrence said in the email that the Apple AirTag is what ultimately led to her daughter being found by authorities, unharmed.
“Get a tracker for your children if you are able to,” she wrote. “A waterproof band is on my daughter’s wrist, like a watch.”
Lawrence said the biggest ally in situations like this is the community. And she suggested parents talk with their kids about the potential danger of opening and closing gates and the importance of following rules.
“I had to find the strength to come here because thinking about this infuriates me and saddens me,” said Lawrence as she addressed the board. “I know that changes will be made. Unfortunately, my daughter paid the price for the lack of security measures.”
She says she prays that this never happens again to any child at this school.
“My daughter is our joy and our light in this world, and I am so thankful that this was the best possible outcome for a child gone missing,” she said.
