One month after a 5-year-old student walked off North Park Elementary School unnoticed, parents returned to the Saugus Union School District board room Tuesday night, demanding answers and immediate safety reforms, saying little has changed since the incident.

The child, identified by his parents as Oliver, slipped out of the school’s after-school program on Nov. 4 through an unsecured gate and walked nearly a mile along McBean Parkway before being found by his family’s nanny. His parents say staff did not realize he was missing and initially told them he was still on campus.

5-Year-Old Oliver (pictured) walked off North Park Elementary School campus November 4, 2025

During public comment at Tuesday’s board meeting, parents described a pattern of safety failures at the North Park Elementary School campus, including a nearly identical incident involving another 5-year-old in 2019.

“My name is Emily Veldkamp, and I am the mother of two North Park students,” Veldkamp told the board. “Six years ago, my 5-year-old son was also lost by North Park – allowed to leave campus and wander alone.”

Veldkamp said she and her husband filed a detailed complaint at the time outlining failures in supervision and campus security, but never received a response from the district.

“No phone calls. No emails. Not even an acknowledgement,” she said. “We were told we were overreacting, as though expecting a school to keep track of a 5-year-old was unreasonable.”

Veldkamp said watching another family relive the same trauma years later was “triggering,” and said the board’s demeanor during public comment was deeply troubling.

“Several board members and staff stared at their phones and laptops while another family relived our nightmare,” she said. “That indifference spoke louder than any words.”

In her public comment, she called for an independent safety audit of all district campuses and after-school programs, a districtwide emergency protocol for missing students, mandatory reporting to law enforcement and state licensing agencies, and consequences for staff involved in repeated safety failures.

Natalie Epstein, Oliver’s mother, also addressed the board talking about what she described as a lack of empathy and transparency from district leadership since her son walked off campus last month.

 

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“What happened to my child and how this district responded cannot be minimized, dismissed or rewritten,” Natalie said.

Natalie asked the board whether any action would be taken one month later, but no board member spoke up as she addressed them, leaving her with only silence and blank stares.

She also criticized a message sent to parents weeks later that she said misrepresented the incident, stating her son was “walking home” and was found quickly.

“That message was a blatant lie,” Natalie said. “My son was not walking home. He was on McBean Parkway. He was not found quickly, and he was not found by your staff.”

Natalie described the lasting impact on her family, saying her son now refuses to leave her side.

“Do you understand what it feels like to imagine your 5-year-old alone on a busy six-lane street?” she asked. “These are not minor inaccuracies. These are serious misrepresentations of a frightening and dangerous situation involving a kindergartner who should have never been able to leave campus unsupervised.”

Following the meeting, Brett and Natalie Epstein told KHTS Radio they have still not been contacted directly by district leadership.

And when they have spoken directly to North Park Elementary School staff about the safety of the gate… Brett Epstein said the school doesn’t plan on implementing any additional safety measures. 

“What they told us they would do is nothing,” he said. “So I guess they need a dead child to make it happen next time.”

Brett Epstein said the family plans to continue attending board meetings until meaningful changes are made.

“We have no intention of stopping,” he said. “There are so many holes and gaps in this district when it comes to safety. They will do as little as they can to appease families unless people keep speaking up.”

The Epsteins said they were only recently made aware of the 2019 incident after being contacted by Veldkamp.

“That doesn’t go away,” Natalie said. “They act like the child is okay, so everything is fine, but the families are not okay.”

For the Epsteins, the passage of time has only reinforced their concerns.

“One month later, parents still don’t have answers,” Brett Epstein said. “Our children’s safety cannot depend on luck or chance encounters.”

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