EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 KFOX14\/CBS4 looked into the Ysleta independent school district’s safety protocols and campus response procedures after an 8-year-old student with autism was able to leave school supervision and walk nearly two miles home unnoticed.<\/p>\n
The incident happened January 9 at Desertaire Elementary School and has raised concerns about how districts handle student elopement — a term used when a child leaves supervision unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
Ysleta Independent School District officials say there is no single district-wide response plan when a student leaves supervision — a situation known as elopement.<\/p>\n
Julia Spencer reports on YISD safety protocols questioned after student with autism leaves campus unnoticed (Credit: KFOX14)<\/p>\n
RELATED: Child with autism leaves school unnoticed, found hours later, raising safety concerns<\/a><\/p>\n Instead, district leaders say each campus is responsible for maintaining its own procedures for responding to those incidents. <\/p>\n KFOX14\/CBS4 also asked district officials about notification procedures when a student goes missing.<\/p>\n David Medina, YISD\u2019s Director of Special Education, said staff are expected to act immediately once they realize a student is unaccounted for.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as a staff member realizes that something has gone wrong, they should be contacting their administrator immediately so that they can kick in their campus protocol to begin searching for the student,\u201d Medina said.<\/p>\n When asked when parents should be notified, Medina said notification should occur \u201cas soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the family of 8-year-old Moises Sosa Jr. says that did not happen in their case. <\/p>\n The child, who has autism, was able to leave Desertaire Elementary on January 9th and walked nearly two miles home without school staff noticing, according to his family.<\/p>\n Surveillance video from the family\u2019s home shows the moment Moises\u2019 father realized his son was outside their house.<\/p>\n Desertaire Elementary is located nearly two miles from the Sosa family\u2019s home, about a 35-minute walk.<\/p>\n