Pleasanton mother says 5-year-old son squeezed through fence, walked off school's campus

PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- Cristina Peterson described how her five-year-old son was able to squeeze through his Elementary school's fence.

"This chain right here-- this padlock from this chain instead of being linked here it was hooked on here."

A gap that was big enough for Christina's five-year-old to fit through and according to her end up on the other side.

This all happened on Thursday during recess at Lydicksen Elementary School in Pleasanton. Peterson found out about the incident Friday.

"I found out about this from another parent. My concern is if she hadn't told me I wonder if the school would have disclosed this to me."

According to Pleasanton Unified School District, Lydicksen's principal called the parent Friday morning and said the student never made it off-campus.

Luz: Has anything like this happened before?

Patrick Gannon with the Unified School district responded: "We checked with our school site and our maintenance team and we haven't received any concerns."

The proximity of the fence to the street is Peterson's biggest concern. We timed the distance between the two and her son could have reached the street in approximately seven to eight seconds.

"It's honestly my worst nightmare," said Peterson.

Now the school is gearing up to make changes starting Tuesday.

"The school has tied the fence so students are not able to make it through the fence. We are also following up on Tuesday to see if there is anything else we can do to secure the fence," said Gannon.

But, the "what ifs" keep circulating her mind

"I didn't realize how lucky I was to pick up my kid from school yesterday. I didn't know until today how lucky I was that I get to love him hopeful for the rest of his life over a chain," said Peterson.

Other parents have reached out to Peterson with similar concerns.

"I had three mothers who I have never met before who contacted me and to share their support and tell me that they had concerns with the school in the past," said Peterson and added "I want to trust that he is safe here. I believe it is their job to ensure that he is safe here and I don't feel like they did that. They failed."