OCOEE, Fla. -- A group of parents are considering legal action on Monday after their children were not allowed to leave school for four hours during a lightning storm after classes on Friday.

Some parents at Ocoee Elementary and Middle schools were enraged after security turned them away when they tried to pick up their children Friday afternoon.

During the four hours, parents mobbed the schools and were videotaped arguing with school officials and chanting "free our kids."

Many likened the incident to holding their children hostage.

"It is a hostage (situation) because you won't let me sign my child out," a parent said at the school. "And I have my ID and what you asked for and you are telling me to go back to my car?"

"I understand it is to protect the children, but I think the parents have the right to come up and release our children," parent Tracy Richards said.

It is part of an Orange County School policy that allows schools to hold students inside while dangerous lightning is in the area.

But, as a result, children were held well into Friday night because of the lockdown.

Jennifer Johns, who is the mother of an eighth-grader at Ocoee Middle School, said her daughter Jessica did not make it home until 8:30 p.m. Friday.

"We are in the busiest storm season," Johns said. "Is it going to be every day we don’t see our children until 7 or 7:30 p.m.?"

Other schools in the area released their students at the end of class.

School Principal Dr. Katherine C. Clark sent a letter to parents on Monday, which read, in part:

"As principal, my first priority is to keep all children safe. Remember, just two years ago, we had two students from Frangus Elementary who were struck by lightning when they got off of their school bus here in Ocoee. Tragically, one of the students died. Due to the severity of the storms in Central Florida, we have a district 30-30 policy regarding dismissal in such situations. If the sound of thunder is heard within 30 seconds after a lightning strike, students must be kept inside for the next 30 minutes. While we did have one break in the storm when we were hopeful that we would be able to dismiss students, that break did not meet the 30 minute guideline."

You can read the entire letter by clicking here.

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