A kindergarten student at Rufino Mendoza Elementary School was found wandering by himself blocks away from the school on Monday. His mother says the school wasn’t upfront about the details of the incident after she learned online that a Good Samaritan found him.
Mother Rebakah Alcaraz told the Star-Telegram she received a call midday on Monday from the school principal saying that her 5-year-old son Elijah had walked out of the building after going to the bathroom by himself. She was then told two staff members and a security guard got him back inside right after he went outside. Later that day, she saw a Facebook post from a community member who said his wife found a child crying by himself blocks away from Rufino Mendoza Elementary.
“What they failed to tell me was that my son left school campus. He was three to four blocks away from the school; he was crying and lost out there. And a parent that just so happened to have seen him was the one who brought him back. They didn’t notify me of any of this,” Alcaraz said.
Isabel Barrera, the community member who found Elijah, told KXAS-TV she hugged him and asked if he was OK when she noticed the school’s name on his shirt. She brought him back to Rufino Mendoza Elementary and said the school staff didn’t know he had left campus.
Later that day, Barrera’s husband posted in the Northside Neighbors y Vecinos Of Fort Worth Facebook group about what happened, saying “Fwisd and rufino mendoza elementary need to do better.”
Rufino Mendoza Elementary School is one of the 19 low-performing schools that make up Fort Worth Independent School District’s new Elevate Network. The Elevate schools will receive additional resources and staffing.
On Tuesday, Alcaraz met with the principal and school staff to discuss the incident. Alcaraz said “they still continued to lie and downplay the situation” and told her “at the end of the day, we’re humans and we all make mistakes.”
Fort Worth ISD officials said in a statement on Wednesday the safety and well-being of students is its top priority. Officials did not provide a response when asked if the faculty or staff responsible for Elijah would face any consequences.
“Fort Worth ISD is aware of an incident involving a kindergarten student who left campus during lunch on Monday. The student was safely located by a community member and promptly returned to school,” district officials said. “District and campus administrators have (been) reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident and will take any necessary steps to strengthen existing safety protocols and procedures.”
Alcaraz said she’s still processing the incident and is in shock. She has filed a police report and is planning to seek legal action against the district.
“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare, and it’s something you don’t think that could ever happen to you until that happens to you,” she said. “The fact that they’re not taking accountability still — that’s what’s really getting to me.”