Dad demands safety changes after 5-year-old daughter walks away from Cedar Rapids school

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — John Thompson doesn’t know whether or not he and his wife will send their daughter back to school Tuesday, after their 5-year-old walked away from kindergarten on just her second day.

Thompson’s wife texted him to say their daughter got into a car with a random stranger after leaving Pierce Elementary School on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.

At the time, Thompson didn’t realize his daughter had made it home, but found out when he arrived there that she was safe, adding they live about four “long blocks” from the school.

“She actually showed up at the house before we were notified,” he said after speaking during the Cedar Rapids Community School District Board of Education meeting just hours after the incident Monday. “The whole time frame was about 20 to 30 minutes long before we were notified.”

Thompson said his major complaint was the delay in notification.

Their daughter misunderstood something happening in the classroom and went to find her second-grade brother for a hug, he said, but when she couldn’t find him, she thought he had gone home, so she left the school.

Thompson declined to give his daughter’s name, but said she made it from the school at 4343 Marilyn Dr. NE, to busy 42nd Street “before she got into a random car with an old lady” who managed to drive her home.

Temperatures soared Monday, with a heat index above 110 degrees, prompting the district to dismiss classes early. The school year began Friday, Aug. 23, and Monday was the district’s second day.

Thompson, a U.S. Army veteran, told the School Board that the district needs to reform their safety protocol.

“I don’t want people fired or in trouble for this,” he said. “I just want it looked at and fixed.”

Already during the meeting, a school district representative met with him to discuss the situation, and he said he was scheduled to speak with the Pierce principal on Tuesday.

Superintendent Tawana Grover thanked Thompson for bringing the matter to their attention, adding “we care about our students’ safety.”

Thompson said he and his wife will discuss whether or not their daughter should return to school on Tuesday and noted they discussed “stranger danger” with her.

“She believes in unicorns and rainbows and everyone is her best friend,” he said. “This could happen to any of our kids and that’s the issue, because someone else may not be as lucky as I was today.”