Dear Sharon Schools Administrator,

On January 28th, Matthew, a 6-year-old student, who is autistic, left Cottage Street school alone after recess and was lost. Luckily, he was found later at Billing St by an ambulance and is safe.

However, until the following safety measures are taken, he is not able to safely return to school:

• Fixing the fence and adding a temporary barrier until it’s fully repaired
• Better supervision & emergency protocols to prevent this from happening again.
• More staff training on autism safety, elopement prevention, and emergency.
• Transparency and accountability – parents should be updated on when these safety fixes are happening.

As parents of Cottage Street School students and other members of Sharon community, it is in our interest not only to ensure that a similar event would not happen to any other child, but also to provide a safe, respectful and truly inclusive environment for atypical kids.

Matthew is a kindergartener and being kept out of school can impact his entire academical, social and personal development. We should not allow the essential support that he requires to be taken from him due to lack of a quick response on such an urgent matter.

Mathew should be able to safely return to his classroom with his friends as soon as possible!