Oregon School’s Letter to Parents Was So Odd and Concerning That It Brought a Quick Apology

Parents in Oregon were shocked when they received a letter from their children's school stating that their kids would be turned over to the state if not picked up "promptly."

The June 24 letter to parents from staff at Swegle Elementary School in Salem, Oregon, started off with a summertime greeting and a reminder of the first day of school. The school also announced that it will be serving free breakfast and informed parents of new school hours starting this fall.

But one line buried three paragraphs into the letter was what really caught some parents by surprise, the Salem Statesman-Journal reported.

Image source: KOIN-TV

It said: "Children must be picked up on time. If they are not picked up on time we will call DHS and you will then have to pick them up at court the next day."

“My heart kind of skipped a beat a little bit. It’s pretty scary,” Chelsea Eichenauer, whose son is set to begin kindergarten, told KOIN-TV.

She said her son would be "traumatized" if he couldn't come home after school one night. She added that something as simple as a flat tire on her car could cause her to be late picking him up.

Eichenauer wasn't sure if other parents felt the same way, so she posted a copy of the letter on Facebook. And it turns out, she wasn't the only one who thought the school had gone too far.

Once Eichenauer's post had made the rounds on social media, the school quickly backtracked and said the letter was sent "in error" because it was never approved by the principal, Corina Valencia-Chavez, who was on vacation, according to the Salem Statesman-Journal.

School spokesman Jay Remy didn't know who was responsible for sending the letter, but admitted it never should have gone out.

"It doesn't strike the right tone," Remy told KOIN.

Another parent who spoke with KATU-TV said she has since received a robocall from the principal, apologizing.

“We hope that parents will be willing to accept our apology and move on," Remy said. "Any grain of truth to that is in an extreme case, like if parents are habitually not picking their kids up."

But even under those circumstances, he said, the actions described in the letter "would not be taken."

Swegle Elementary School did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze.

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(H/T: Salem Statesman Journal)

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