ATASCOCITA, Texas – A five-year-old boy with autism was found wandering in the middle of a busy intersection after being left alone on a school playground on Tuesday.
Security camera footage from Lakeshore Elementary School shows teachers gathering students from the playground but failing to notice Jibreel Kales, who then attempted to follow his classmates inside.
The kindergarten student was locked out when he reached the door moments after it closed.
“To not know you’re missing a child, I’m just looking for answers of why, how could anybody make a mistake like that,” said Adam Kales, Jibreel’s father.
The situation turned dangerous when Jibreel, who has Autism and doesn’t speak in full sentences, made his way to West Lake Houston Parkway.
A fellow parent of a student at Lakeshore Elementary, Sarah Gustafson, spotted the child in the intersection.
“I was going on West Lake Houston Parkway and I saw him in the intersection,” Gustafson said. “Got out of the car, grabbed him, he pulled away a little bit, so I picked him up, I put him in my son’s car seat, buckled him in so that he would be safe.”
Security camera video, shared with KPRC 2 by Jibreel’s parents, shows the moments after Jibreel was left outside.
Seconds after the rest of his class walked inside and the door shut, he was seen on the other side of the glass, pounding on the door.
“It breaks my heart to see that he’s sitting on the ground, curled up, crying, frustrated, not knowing what to do,” his father said.
It’s particularly concerning because Jibreel is in a special education class that typically receives additional supervision.
“So far we got a sorry. Looking into it. I didn’t get any other answers,” he said.
As a result of the incident, Jibreel’s parents have decided to remove him from Lakeshore Elementary, unwilling to risk a similar situation occurring again.
“Physically, he looks okay, but mentally, he’s not doing okay,” Kales said.
Humble ISD provided KPRC 2 with the following statement:
This should not have happened. The school is taking this incident very seriously. Staff will be retrained on supervision and transition protocols, along with additional safety measures, such as playground sweeps, gate checks, and increased monitoring.
During recess on Tuesday, a student was playing inside a playground structure. As the class lined up to return to the building, the required headcount was not completed as it should have occurred. The student remained in the structure as the class exited the playground. The child waited outside and then walked off school grounds.
A community member noticed the student and called the front office. Additionally, a parent leaving the school saw the child and was able to stay by the student’s side until campus administrators arrived to return the student safely to school. The student was assessed by the campus nurse and was thankfully unharmed.
We are grateful that the student is safe and for the parents who acted quickly to alert school staff. We are committed to learning from this and ensuring it does not happen again.