Parents were irritated when they learned it’s unknown when fencing, door alarms and more cameras would be installed at the Hennessey Early Childhood Center.

“What’s the timeline on the fencing?” asked Chandra Seiger, a parent and a regular at board meetings.

“We’ve got the permits,” said Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods during Monday night’s school board meeting. “We have to have a big enough pad and we’re waiting on our contractors.”

They’ve added a button outside the building so someone could get back in, he said, and cameras were adjusted to give a “broader picture of what’s going on.”

“It’s been five weeks,” said Lacy Vadder, a parent in the audience of 25 parents, teachers, administrators and an Oklahoma television station cameraman.

It’s been five weeks since 4-year-old Rhet Cooper walked away from his classroom unnoticed and no one at the school knew he was missing until his mother, Ashli Cooper, called the school to say he’d walked home.

Cameras didn’t show the pre-schooler leaving the school, or crossing Mitchell Road. He wasn’t noticed by others during lunchtime and walked almost three miles on dirt roads until a motorist unknown to him picked him up and took him home.

Rhet gave the driver directions to his house.

He apparently thought everyone in his class had gone home.

“Everyone has a heightened alert now. I know how hard it is to keep up with six children,” said Dr. James Matousek, board president and the father of six girls.

“Some have trouble with two kids, or one, and I think our teachers do an excellent job and I think we’re doing everything we can and we’re lucky our teachers come to school and haven’t quit during these times.”

Rhet’s twin sister is in his class, but was home due to COVID-19 quarantine.

“If she’d been there they would have known he was missing for sure,” Mrs. Cooper said after the meeting.

“We were afraid he wouldn’t want to go to school after that,” said the boy’s father, Ryan Cooper, after the meeting. “But he loves school, and loves his teacher.”

When a child is missing...

“What’s the time frame after a teacher realizes a child is missing?” Mrs. Cooper asked the superintendent Monday night. “What does the teacher do with the other students? How long do you look before I’m notified?”

“There is no specific policy,” Woods said before she was told that the protocol is for a teacher “to go up the ladder” and tell the principal, then the superintendent, then the resource officer, police and fire.

“This was a horrible situation,” said Stacey Schovanec, center principal. “Our team has been working their tails off so it doesn’t happen again.”

Each student has a certain place to stand in line and at the lunch table when they go to the elementary school for lunch, “and we count and re-count students, we have arrows on the floor that lead to the office and Officer Pitts (the school’s full-time resource officer) made a video for students.”

If a child is abducted

“If a child is abducted do we have something in writing that’s in place?” asked board member Patrick Griffin.

“We contact the resource officer first,” said Woods.

There are no cameras at the drop-off and pick up places, said Mrs. Cooper.

“We have so many resources now to keep people out of the schools,” Griffin said.

“If a high school student didn’t come back after lunch, it would be different versus a small child,” said Cristopher Choate, board member and clerk.

“We have lock down drills, intruder drills, fire drills and we’re doing a lot with COVID, but we need something when a child goes missing,” Mrs. Cooper said.

When fencing installed?

“How long will it be before the fencing is up?” asked Griffin.

Woods said he didn’t know.

“So four weeks? January? When?” asked Griffin.

“We’re at the mercy of our vendors,” said Woods.

Griffin said he asked because he wanted to make sure they didn’t need something from the board in order to proceed.

Woods said that wasn’t the case and the district is using local people on the jobs who they know they can trust to do good work.

Drop-off/pick up kids

“It’s not working,” said Cooper. “Someone is always trying to cut in.”

Woods said these are things that he needs to know and said parents and teachers are needed on committees to let the board know what’s needed.

Cooper said teachers are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.

Woods said he hopes that’s not true.