ACPS Jefferson-Houston Elementary School administrators put on leave after autistic 4-year-old walked away from school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I were ACPS I would agree to a private placement immediately. This parent knows her daughter is not being served well at the school and wants a move. Saves everyone time and attorney fees. Just do it.

There's really not a lot or any private placements for 4 year olds.

+1. They basically don’t exist. She may have been in an appropriate placement. The problem is that eloping can be difficult, even when a child has a 1:1 things can come up. People get sick, have to use the bathroom etc

When I was a sped para I remember having to take an elementary age child to the speech teacher's office and getting her to agree to watch the child for a few minutes while I made an urgent bathroom visit. Getting sick or having to use the bathroom is not a good excuse for not watching a child who needs watching all the time unless getting sick actually meant passing out unconscious with no warning.

[Anonymous]

I'm not surprised that a 4 year old with autism ran off but it seemed like no one realized she was missing for quite awhile. Its one thing for her to have a ten second headstart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I were ACPS I would agree to a private placement immediately. This parent knows her daughter is not being served well at the school and wants a move. Saves everyone time and attorney fees. Just do it.

There's really not a lot or any private placements for 4 year olds.

+1. They basically don’t exist. She may have been in an appropriate placement. The problem is that eloping can be difficult, even when a child has a 1:1 things can come up. People get sick, have to use the bathroom etc

When I was a sped para I remember having to take an elementary age child to the speech teacher's office and getting her to agree to watch the child for a few minutes while I made an urgent bathroom visit. Getting sick or having to use the bathroom is not a good excuse for not watching a child who needs watching all the time unless getting sick actually meant passing out unconscious with no warning.

+1 totally agree. I walk alongside some special needs high school students when we're finished with an evaluation to make sure they don't get lost or leave the building.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In many districts public school teachers aren’t allowed to use child safety gates or latches on doors because they are too restrictive.

Daycares can do it all the time. Preschool in an elementary school is a great thing most of the time and then you run into stupid regulations like this.

To the person who claims the teachers weren’t watching well enough please please come take one of the many many vacancies for pre k sped teacher! We need you!

Have you tried door alarms? What about those split doors sometimes you can get away with that. Like this:

Awww. We are teachers and can’t cut the metal fire doors just because we want to or even if we ask it doesn’t just happen. Alarms may be okay, I used one for a bit but frankly if you are changing a kid while your two assistants are sitting on the floor or changing someone and feeding another, who is chasing and how agile are these people that they can get up immediately and give chase. If the kid leaves through an exterior door, those are precious seconds a kid can run. Make no mistake preschool kids can also fit through smaller spaces so even if you are on the trail, they can escape. I played sports at one point in my life, so I’m pretty good a blocking, but I can’t say the same for everyone I have worked with. I live in fear of a kid eloping and frankly living your life for years at high alert takes a toll.

Yeah I know what you mean, it gets exhausting. You can always change environments and go home based. Much easier!

I’ve seen rooms where there’s kind of an L around the outdoor exit so they have to walk all the way around rather than running straight for the door. So you’re not blocking the door you’re just deterring their exit. Gives you more time to react if you see them headed that direction, you can even put the alarm at the end of the “aisle “ to increase your reaction speed.

[Anonymous]

They LOST A CHILD?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked that they are punishing the school staff. My child and some of his classmates eloped multiple times from a CSS site --including several where police had to be called in--and there was never any indication that the staff was punished for it.

They will likely be investigated and cleared to return but if a child elopes it’s an immediate CPS call on the staff/school. That’s likely what happened here. Clearly this is not the child’s LRE so hopefully another placement is found for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not surprised that a 4 year old with autism ran off but it seemed like no one realized she was missing for quite awhile. Its one thing for her to have a ten second headstart.

They may have known a few minutes into this incident, and started internal procedures to secure the building and search for the child. We don’t know that info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like she was out for at least 20 minutes, that's a lot of people driving by

How do you know drivers or other people didn’t attempt to help? Perhaps some weren’t sure what to do about the situation and called 911 instead.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like she slipped out during dismissal time.

Are there any updates? Are J-H staff and admin still on leave?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like she was out for at least 20 minutes, that's a lot of people driving by

How do you know drivers or other people didn’t attempt to help? Perhaps some weren’t sure what to do about the situation and called 911 instead.

I mean wouldn’t most adults try to get a little kid who is running around by themselves in the middle road off the road? What kind of world is that where people just stand around. Sounds like a Seinfeld episode.

There could have been 911 calls but none were reported. Only thing reported was that a school bus driver saw her and got her into her bus.

[Anonymous]

How do you know drivers or other people didn’t attempt to help? Perhaps some weren’t sure what to do about the situation and called 911 instead.


I mean wouldn’t most adults try to get a little kid who is running around by themselves in the middle road off the road? What kind of world is that where people just stand around. Sounds like a Seinfeld episode.

There could have been 911 calls but none were reported. Only thing reported was that a school bus driver saw her and got her into her bus.

Whether bystanders saw her, made calls, and how long she was in the busy intersection (vs on Cameron, where there is little traffic that time of day) is rampant speculation. It's just unknown. What is known is that she eloped from a school building, and her mother does not feel the school is doing enough to ensure it won't reoccur, and is thus not comfortable sending her back there. Those are the known facts, and seen like the more important focus of discussion.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been hearing nightmare stories about Jefferson-Houston for several years. How bad is the school? Good leadership? Good building? Student population with problems? Parents show interest? Lot of cars with Maryland plates picking up kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been hearing nightmare stories about Jefferson-Houston for several years. How bad is the school? Good leadership? Good building? Student population with problems? Parents show interest? Lot of cars with Maryland plates picking up kids?

The academic principal under suspension was responsible to harm to my autistic child in the December 2019 time frame. So, the nightmere stories are true…..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They LOST A CHILD?!

The child most likely eloped (escaped, wandered off). It is really common among children with autism. It happens to parents all the time too.

January 2024- a 4 year old Alabama boy with autism wanders off into woods and is only found 2 days later
Feb 2024 - a 5 year old Florida boy wandered off at 6 pm. "According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the boy was playing with his sister when he vanished. The girl told deputies she turned around, and the boy was gone." He unfortunately drowned
March 2024 - a 4 year old boy with autism wanders off from his house at 12:30 pm and drowns in a river in Florida
April 2024 a 3 year old boy with autism wanders off from his house and drowns in a pool.

It is tough because schools aren't jails and rooms can't be locked. It shouldn't have happened and hopefully the school has better procedures in the future. Maybe someone was truly negligent but chances are the student quickly escaped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm shocked that they are punishing the school staff. My child and some of his classmates eloped multiple times from a CSS site --including several where police had to be called in--and there was never any indication that the staff was punished for it.

They will likely be investigated and cleared to return but if a child elopes it’s an immediate CPS call on the staff/school. That’s likely what happened here. Clearly this is not the child’s LRE so hopefully another placement is found for her.

You’re using LRE incorrectly. I think what you’re trying to say is that she might need a MORE restrictive environment.