A man entered Wichita elementary school twice and contacted a student. What to know

A man entered Gordon Parks Elementary on two consecutive days in March and made contact with a 13-year-old girl without her parents’ permission. The Wichita school district confirmed its visitor safety protocol was not followed by staff.

FULL STORY: How a 36-year-old got into a Wichita school —twice — and what district visitor rules require

Here are key takeaways:

• Michael Arnold, 36, was charged with stalking after entering Gordon Parks Academy on March 9 and March 10 and making verbal and physical contact with a 13-year-old girl. He had previously worked for the district as a para and Future Ready advocate for almost two months during fall 2024 before resigning.

• On March 9, Arnold was buzzed in by office staff. He did not go past the office but made contact with the student. The next day, he got in by following someone who had been buzzed in, according to district spokesperson Susan Arensman.

• District protocol requires visitors to show a government-issued ID, have their name checked against a parent-approved contact list and be scanned through a Hall Pass system that checks national sex offender databases. The staff member who let Arnold in had received annual training but did not follow these steps.

• A woman who identified herself as the girl’s aunt posted about the incident on social media March 11, saying the family had to push to get law enforcement involved. The post was shared more than 800 times. The district said some of the aunt’s claims weren’t true.

• Arnold was arrested on March 11. His bond was set at $50,000, he is barred from visiting any USD 259 facilities and is due in court April 2.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 5:05 AM.