Report: Woman signed unrelated child out of school

VERMILION — A Vermilion woman is in hot water after she allegedly signed out another woman's daughter from a local high school. Tara M. Herron, 42, of the 200 block of Morton Road, is facing one fifth-degree felony count of forgery and two first-degree misdemeanors: interference with custody and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Herron reportedly went to Vermilion High School at 10 a.m. Sept. 2 and attempted to sign another woman's daughter out of school. The incident was reported to police Sept. 3. When asked for her identification, Herron reportedly claimed she forgot it, according to a Vermilion police report. A school employee described as a secretary in the report, then allowed Herron to sign the girl out. Herron reportedly signed using the name of the girl's mother. After taking the girl out of Vermilion High School, the two reportedly returned to her house and did some cleaning. At one point, the girl reportedly told the woman she had gift cards, and the woman then transported the girl to Crocker Park in Westlake. That is two counties away from Vermilion High School, located in Erie County. The two returned to the Vermilion area at approximately school dismissal time. Herron then picked up her own daughters and a neighbor before returning to Herron's home. Herron then allegedly called other children's parents in regards to those kids bullying the girl. Finally, Herron reportedly took all the kids in her care to an ice cream shop before returning the high school girl to her home. On Sept. 4, Herron turned herself in to Vermilion police at the station. She was served her charges, photographed, fingerprinted, and DNA was collected. Herron entered a not guilty plea in Vermilion Municipal Court on Sept. 10. She had a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday, but the result of that hearing has not been updated in court records. Typically in cases involving felonies, the cases are sent to the Erie County prosecutor's office for presentation to a session of the grand jury. Herron is not currently in Erie County Jail as of late Friday. It is unclear what bond she posted or if she was allowed to sign herself out with a promise to appear at court hearings. First-degree misdemeanors carrying maximum incarcerations of up to six months in jail. Fifth-degree felonies can be punished by up to one year in prison. District response The Register contacted superintendent David Hile and upcoming interim superintendent Wes Weaver for comments on the incident. Hile responded shortly after questions were sent: Q: What is your district/high school building's procedure regarding student sign-outs? DH: Our protocol is that students are only to be released to those identified as custodial parents or guardians or other individuals parents have officially assigned authority, as identified in our student information system, to pick up their child, like a grandparent, other relative, etc., and anyone authorized to pick up a student must provide picture identification, no exceptions. Q: Who is the employee responsible for sign-ins/outs? Is this person the one who permitted this woman to sign the female student out? If not, who permitted the sign-out in this instance? DH: There are multiple individuals at each building who are responsible for releasing students to their parents. We are not going to name the employee. There is no benefit to anyone by publicly shaming an otherwise good and effective employee who erred, who knows they have erred and who will not make such an error again. Q: Did the employee receive any discipline? If so, what was the discipline? If not, why not? DH: Yes, the employee received appropriate discipline and retraining to ensure this error doesn't occur again. Q: Will this student face any punishment? If so, what was it/what will it be? DH: Student discipline is part of the student's confidential student record. Q: What will the district do to prevent this from happening in the future? DH: Our protocol for releasing students from school was made crystal clear with the employee, and the employee was informed that they are to check ID 100% of the time before releasing a student from school. The employee understands that this can never happen again and is committed to following our protocol going forward. We also reiterated our protocol to all other employees responsible for releasing students to authorized individuals. Q: Were district parents notified about this, and have any raised concerns with you about this incident? Please summarize. DH: No, this was a one-off event that affected one student and one family. It was addressed immediately and appropriately to ensure it never happens again, and, thus, it is not something that impacted or will impact other students and families.