Scott County School district plans safety improvements after recess kidnapping

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Parents shared their concerns at a southern Indiana school board meeting after a woman kidnapped a child during recess at a Scott County elementary school.

Brittany Hurtt, 34, was arrested by officers with the Austin Police Department after police said she kidnapped a child from a playground. Hurtt allegedly walked up to a 7-year-old girl at a playground at the Austin Elementary School and grabbed her wrist, allegedly telling her, "Come with me. Let's start a family."

When that girl jerked loose from her grip and ran away, Hurtt grabbed the hand of an 8-year-old girl from the playground, lifted her over a fence and walked away with her.

"We had a very unfortunate, scary incident take place," said Scott County School District superintendent Trevor Jones. "We have had some soul searching and looking at our policies."

Recess remains suspended at Austin Elementary school a week after Hurtt kidnapped a child. The school district said school resource officer and police responded and were able to quickly return the student unharmed within minutes.

"I immediately started crying, I didn't know if it was my kid or not," a parent said at the school board meeting.

At Monday night's school board meeting, Jones told the school board and parents that the district has talked to the sheriff, police chief and Department of Education about changes that can be made quickly to make everyone feel safer.

"The main thing would be monitoring the perimeter," Jones said. "There was a failure. We had a student abducted at our school."

Raising the height of playground fences as soon as possible was one of the safety improvements discussed. Other changes include more monitoring the school resource officer and additional adults for support.

Students will also stay on the same playground throughout the recess. An indoor recess option will also be offered to students who have families worried about outdoor safety.

"We feel very confident that what happened last week cannot happen again," Jones said.

One parent, at the school board meeting asked why teachers weren't being held accountable.

Jones said he couldn't answer the question because it's a personnel issue.

The mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, told WDRB News she wanted to make sure her voice was heard.

"I just want to sit in the parking lot myself and watch all day to make sure this doesn't happen again," she said.

Recess is expected to resume later this week with a heightened sense of awareness, but not a higher fence just yet.

Hurtt was taken to the Scott County Detention Center and posted bond Saturday morning. Then, less than 25 hours later, online arrest records from the Scott County Sheriff's Department indicate she was booked into the jail Sunday on a domestic battery charge.

Hurtt now faces battery charges on top of charges of kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, battery to a public safety official, criminal trespassing on school property, resisting law enforcement, public nudity and public indecency.

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