Parents outraged after Pasadena ISD elementary student with special needs found in the middle of the road
PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) -- No shoes, sweaty and in the middle of the road as cars swerved around her, that's how some parents found an elementary school student on Friday during school hours. She was a long way from any supervision and parents say they are furious.
Anna Perez says she couldn't believe it when she and her brothers were driving by.
"By the time I saw her she was almost going to get ran over by a car, and when we finally got to her, she was really sweaty, she had no shoes," Perez said.
On a busy street all alone. Perez said the girl looked about 5 years old, the same age as her son.
"She walked pretty far, because we live the next street over and it just really concerned me. So I came and got my son right away," Perez told ABC13 Eyewitness News.
Ricky Moore, whose own son has down Syndrome, moved the little girl to safety and then rushed to the school for help.
"The little girl could have been taken, she could have been ran over and killed," Moore said.
In a statement, Pasadena ISD said they are "Committed to ensuring the safety of all students. Unfortunately, a safety incident involving a Genoa Elementary student did occur this afternoon during recess. The District is thankful that the student was not harmed and is safe. Genoa Elementary staff responded quickly to address the safety of the student and communicated with the student's parent. Even so, Pasadena ISD knows that keeping our students safe is a team effort among our school and community. Pasadena ISD will continue to take appropriate administrative action as necessary. Today, we are thankful for the community members who took swift action to provide assistance to the campus and one of our students. Additional comments by the District regarding this incident would be inappropriate pursuant to student confidentiality laws."
Moore says something like this cannot be ignored.
"If it was me, if I was the one that lost that kid, I wouldn't expect nothing less than to be fired," Moore said.
Perez says the superintendent did call to thank her for helping, and told her the girl was playing hide and seek with the other children outside on the playground and got away.
