Local

Father upset school let child get on bus to mom's house despite injunction

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Channel 9 has learned a Seminole County school that came under fire on a weapons issue last year is now accused of letting a student go home with a relative who wasn't supposed to have any contact with the child.

Hamilton Elementary School is under new leadership after three administrators mishandled a report of a gun at school last semester, but the new issue was reported this week, and Channel 9 learned no one from the school is being punished.

The district wouldn't go on camera but said miscommunication led to teachers allowing a 6-year-old student to go home to her mother, Angela Pascoe, 27, even though there was an injunction in place that prohibited the mother from having contact with her daughter due to alleged abuse.

"My daughter's been getting abused for years," said the girl's father, Quentin Herring.

Someone at the school, however, allowed the girl to get on a bus and ride to her mother's house this week.

"I was upset and I was hurt because they know they have that restraining order against the mother," said Herring.

Shortly after the child arrived at the home, Pascoe was taken into custody, authorities said.

Herring said he's asked the district for answers but they won't say who was responsible for the mixup.

"Who let my daughter on that bus? They still won't tell me now to this day. They're saying they handled it, but how?" he said. "That's their job to protect every child but they're not doing their job."

Channel 9 learned late Friday that despite the incident, a judge lifted the injunction against Pascoe and gave joint custody back to both parents.

Last year, a fourth grade student was arrested for bringing an unloaded gun to Hamilton Elementary.

The principal, assistant principal and school behavior specialist all lost their jobs over the handling of that incident.