Great-grandpa takes home wrong kid from school, angering parents

STERLING, Conn. - Parents in a small eastern Connecticut town say they're upset and demanding action by local officials after a man went to a school to pick up his great-grandson and took the wrong child home.

The 5-year-old boy's mother and other parents criticized school officials in Sterling during a local Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

The boy's mother, Angela Stone, says the incident happened Friday afternoon at Sterling Community School. She says her son refused to get out of the man's car at his home, and the man's wife noticed the mistake. The man drove the boy back to the school.

CBS affiliate WFSB in Hartford reports the mistake was made because the great-grandfather and the man who was supposed to pick up the boy were wearing similar hats.

Stone called school officials incompetent and said they should be disciplined for not contacting police after the incident. Stone said the principal's assurances that he knew the man who picked up her son, and that her son was safe, were not enough.

School Superintendent Rena Klebart acknowledges mistakes were made and says officials are making changes to prevent similar incidents.