Family of Shelton student who found needle outraged over school’s response
Jun 10, 2016, 7:15 AM | Updated: 8:21 am
A Southside Elementary student found a needle in a flower bed on Tuesday. The student's family didn't find out until Wednesday. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
The family of a Shelton kindergartner wants to know why they weren’t notified immediately after the 6-year-old handled a hypodermic needle outside of his school.
The kindergartner found the needle in a flower bed at Southside Elementary on Tuesday. The student’s grandmother, Michelle Schneider, told KIRO 7 the family wasn’t informed of the incident until Wednesday.
“That’s wrong,” Schneider said. “My daughter should have been notified right away. And when she found out right away, she took him up to the emergency room.”
The family only found out about the incident because the child’s mother, who works at the school, overheard a conversation between a teacher and the principal, KIRO 7 reports. EMTs were not called to check the students; the students were not asked to wash their hands, Schneider says.
The boy will undergo testing the next couple of days to make sure he wasn’t infected by handling the needle.
The principal says they’ve had needles on campus before, but she wasn’t aware that the 6-year-old actually picked up the needle.
Schneider called the explanation from the school “bogus” and said “It’s like this principal is trying to cover things up,” KIRO 7 reports.
According to a letter to parents, surveillance video shows people “likely involved” with the needle were on campus around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
