ELKRIDGE, Md. — She was like, 'Where is my family?' And when she went to the police, the police were like, 'I don't—something's going on.'
When a student at Maryland International School in Elkridge was pulled out of her 6th grade classroom because of a family emergency, she was distraught. The police were there to take the girl to the hospital, her teacher said.
The 11-year-old's mother, who asked to only be referred to as Ms. Campbell, recalled to WMAR-2 News, "When she got to the hospital, the police basically was giving her to the family. The mother said, 'This is not my child!' And she was like, 'This is not my mom!'"
Campbell says her daughter was scheduled to get picked up by her grandparents that day. That's who got the call from Baltimore County Police about the mistake.
"While I was at work, my mom called me, frantic, letting me know that my police had my daughter," Campbell recounted.
She was brought back to school, confused and upset. Her mother was feeling the same.
"The school never called me, even after the police called [the school]. They never called. It was me who made the call, to say, 'How did this happen?'"
Here's how Baltimore County Police described the incident, which happened on January 24:
"Prior to the arrival of the Baltimore County Police Department, family members notified the school of a family emergency and stated that an officer would be picking up their child. Once the child arrived at the hospital, the officer was made aware she was not a family member. The officer promptly contacted the school, and the student was safely returned to campus."
Police say the initial call for service originated in Baltimore County, which is why their department was involved even though the school is located in Howard County.
Maryland International School didn't respond to our request for comment, but Campbell showed us an email that was sent to the entire school community, stating that administrators were putting new procedures in place to prevent something like this from happening again.
"They should have been already in place. Anyone who's picking up children to be taken away from the school property should always have verification. They should always have protocols, whether it's law enforcement or not," Campbell said.
Campbell says coincidentally, she had already withdrawn her daughter from the school, and that day was her last. But the trauma has followed her beyond the school's grounds.
"It was just so confusing to her, and she was just like, 'I didn't know what to believe.' She just felt completely unsafe."
At this point, although Campbell has retained an attorney, she has not yet filed any formal legal action.
Her attorney, Jasmine Alvarez, told WMAR-2 News:
"As parents, we are entrusting the school with our children’s safety. We drop them off in the morning with the expectation that they will be there in the afternoon when we pick them up. We are shocked and appalled at the gross negligence and mishandling at the hands of the Maryland International School as well as the Baltimore City Police Department. Our goal with bringing forth this matter is that this doesn’t happen to another child ever again."