Boy, 6, walked out of NYC school after holiday, father says

A 6-year-old boy was locked out of his Queens elementary school by unsuspecting staff after recess, The Post has learned.

First-grader Yosef Alwakje was kicked out of the PS 35 building in Hollis after staff ignored him while calling students off the school campus on Oct. 11, the boy’s angry father, Nagi Alwakje, told The Post. told.

Hours later, a school security agent told Alwaqzeh that a parent had found Yosef wandering the streets alone before bringing him back to the 191st Street School, the father of seven said.

“‘They closed the door and I knocked on the door, I cried. “No one opened the door,” the boy told his father.

It’s unclear how long Yosef was left outside or how far he wandered on the 68-degree day, but Alwaqzeh said her child recalled seeing a ladder at one point. This, he said, led him to believe his son might have wandered into the busy corner of Jamaica Avenue, less than 200 feet from 191st Street, where the Hardhats had been operating in recent weeks.

Alwaqzeh said she didn’t learn about her son’s disappearance from school until she picked him up at recess that day — and only then when a teacher asked her about the accident.

“When something like this happens to a child, you should call the parents immediately,” he said. “And then you should call an ambulance to make sure the baby is OK.”

PS 35 apologized to Alwaqzeh for the incident, although sources cast doubt on whether the child had passed out on the street, saying in a note that construction equipment was scattered around the building, including in the school courtyard.

The boy’s ordeal isn’t the first time security issues have rocked the PS35 in recent years.

Two years ago, when the building was on early-morning intruder alert, school leaders ordered staff to sweep the hallways to catch possible armed intruders, even though police had not yet arrived, sources said. The warning turned out to be false, but one teacher was angry that school leadership had put the lives of his colleagues at risk.

School principal Anisha Jaico also hired a former thief Who was convicted in a 2010 gun case while working as a full-time substitute classroom assistant.

Ally was shot June 2023 The Post reported on his criminal history and complaints from staff about his erratic behavior and use of inappropriate language in front of children.

DOE spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said investigators have been notified of the school’s latest mistake.

“District leadership is working with the school to ensure appropriate safety and supervision at all times while providing this student with the support he needs,” he said.

A spokesman for the city schools’ special commissioner of investigation said the independent watchdog was reviewing the allegation.

Jaco did not respond to requests for comment.

Additional reporting by Susan Edelman and Georgia Worrell