Boy, 6, locked out of NYC school after recess, dad says
A 6-year-old was locked out of his Queens elementary school after recess by oblivious staffers, The Post has learned.
First-grader Yosef Alwakzeh was shut out of the PS 35 building in Hollis after staff overlooked him while calling in students from the schoolyard on Oct. 11, the boy’s outraged father, Nagi Alwakzeh, told The Post.
Hours later, a school security agent confided to Alwakzeh that a parent found Yosef wandering the streets alone before bringing him back to the 191st Street school, the father-of-seven said.
“’They locked the door and I knocked on the door, I cried. Nobody opened the door,’” the boy told his father.
It is unclear how long Yosef was left outside or how far he strayed on the 68-degree day, but Alwakzeh said his child recalled seeing a ladder at one point. That led him to believe his son may have wandered less than 200 feet down 191st Street to the busy corner of Jamaica Avenue, where said hardhats have been at work in recent weeks, he said.
Alwakzeh said he didn’t hear from the school about his son’s disappearance until he picked him up that day at dismissal — and only after a teacher asked him about the mishap.
“When something happens like this to any child, you should call the parents immediately,” he said. “And then you should call the ambulance to make sure the kid’s OK.”
PS 35 apologized to Alwakzeh for the incident, although sources cast doubt on whether the child got out onto the street, with one noting there is construction equipment scattered around the building, including the school yard.
The boy’s ordeal isn’t the first time safety issues have rocked PS 35 in recent years.
Two years ago, when the building had an early morning intruder alert, school leaders ordered staff to sweep the hallways for the potentially armed trespasser, even though cops had yet to arrive, sources said. The warning turned out to be a false alarm, but one teacher fumed that the school’s leadership put their colleagues lives on the line.
The school’s principal, Aneesha Jacko, also hired an ex-con who had been convicted in a 2010 gun case to serve as a full-time substitute classroom aide.
The aide was booted in June 2023 after 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 the school’s latest blunder had been reported to investigators.
“District leadership is working with the school to ensure proper safety and supervision at all times while providing necessary support for this student,” she said.
A spokesperson for Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools said the independent watchdog is reviewing the allegation.
Jacko did not respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Susan Edelman and Georgia Worrell
