A Phoenix woman is concerned about her children's safety after they were permitted to talk to people on campus who they were not supposed to.
Denay Buxton says she is extremely impressed with the quality of education at BASIS Charter Schools.
"My youngest son is in kindergarten and each day I am amazed with how much he has learned in less than a year," Buxton said. "My oldest son is is in fourth grade and doing pre-algebra."
Buxton says her children recently enrolled in BASIS Phoenix Central and she provided the school's staff with lists of people who are, and are not, permitted to pick up her kids from campus.
On the boys' first day at their new school, Buxton says her children were released to her sister but she was not asked to provide any identification before taking them home.
The following day, Buxton said she set up a meeting with the head of the school to discuss the issue and an email was sent to a handful of staffers instructing them that her kids were only allowed to be released to her sister and brother-in-law.
However, on Wednesday, Buxton said her "children's safety was in extreme danger."
Buxton explained after providing the school with documentation on who was permitted to pick up her kids during a meeting, her requests continued to be ignored, she said.
"The very people that I listed that should have no contact whatsoever with my kids were allowed to casually roam the school campus, watch my fourth grader during his PE class and walk into the school, provide my kindergartner's name and have him pulled out from his class with no ID check, no prior/advance notice from me," Buxton said. "My kindergartner was minutes away from being kidnapped."
During her son's interaction with the people on campus, his photograph was taken and he was bribed with gifts, Buxton said.
Buxton said her older son spotted the people on campus and informed staff prior to the kindergartner being called out of his class. She reported the incident to Phoenix Police.
"I have done everything in my power to remove myself and kids from a life-threatening situation only to be placed back in another because school administration could not follow simple directions and policies that are in place for a reason," Buxton said.
Buxton said the incident now has her constantly worrying about her kids' safety.
"Are these dangerous individuals going to return?" Buxton said. "Will the school allow them to pull my child from class again? Will they walk out the front door and I never see my child again? I am beyond disappointed in how this was handled by BASIS."
A spokesperson for BASIS released the following statement to ABC15:
Student safety is our number one priority and we are actively working with the parties involved to address any and all concerns.
