Philadelphia School District revises early-dismissal policy after kidnapping

The School District of Philadelphia has revised its policy on how students will be released to parents for early dismissal since the kidnapping of a girl from a West Philadelphia kindergarten in January.

Security officers are now authorized to ask visitors to remove hats, glasses, and veils to verify the identity of those authorized to pick up children, addressing the "sensitive" task of identifying visitors in nonrevealing clothing, a school official testified in City Council on Thursday.

A woman in Muslim garb entered Bryant School on Jan. 14 without showing identification, walked into a classroom posing as a parent, and abducted a 5-year-old girl. The girl was taken away and sexually abused.

Police Chief Inspector Cynthia Dorsey, the School District's top safety official, said Muslim dress was a "sensitive issue."

Testifying before a joint session of Council's Public Safety and Education Committees, Dorsey said it was better for female staffers to question visitors wearing the hijab, which covers the head but not the face, or niqab, which covers all of the face except the eyes.

Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. called the hearing to discuss how the district could strengthen and better enforce its policy on special releases and early dismissals.

Police now have two officers who work security detail at Bryant, according to Dorsey, who said the second officer was assigned after the abduction.

"The crime and the injury to the little girl I represent was horrible, unthinkable," Thomas R. Kline, the lawyer representing the girl's mother, said at the hearing. "We need a published policy that everyone understands."

Christina Regusters, 19, was arrested in February and arraigned on 15 counts related to the girl's kidnapping and rape.

Police allege that Regusters was the woman seen on a security video leading the girl from the school after posing as her mother. Police have called the case a targeted abduction because the woman asked for the 5-year-old by name and knew how to evade security at Bryant.

Karen Lynch, Philadelphia chief of student services, said the district had a policy regulating how parents or guardians can take children out of school early but it was not followed at Bryant that day. She said all staff would be trained on the standardized policy and revised procedures.

Minutes before the hearing began, Kline said the 5-year-old was no longer attending Bryant but was "back in the educational process."

"However, that doesn't mitigate the fact that she suffered life-altering injuries," Kline said.

One of the charges Regusters faces is conspiracy, which means she allegedly had one or more accomplices. Police on Thursday said the case remained under investigation.

Regusters is held with bail set at $4 million. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 29.