A Fort Worth mother experienced a frightening ordeal during the early days of school pick-up when her autistic seven-year-old first-grader went missing. Taylor Grantham, who was running late to pick up her son from Hatley Elementary School in the Eagle-Mountain Saginaw Independent School District, arrived to find he was not in the front office where late students are usually sent.
Grantham was informed by two teachers that her son had been placed in a car. The school uses a system where students’ information on their cards is matched with the card displayed in the pick-up vehicle. Grantham explained to the staff, “This is the card. I’m a single parent with full custody, so no one else should have picked up my son.”
She also called her sister and her son’s father, but they did not have her son. About 30 minutes later, the school staff returned her son, explaining that he had been mistakenly placed in the wrong grade’s pick-up line.
Grantham described the experience as “terrible,” expressing her distress by saying, “I thought someone had taken my child. I had a panic attack and have not slept or eaten since. It has really taken a toll on me.”
She added, “I just wanted them to acknowledge the seriousness of what happened and show some empathy.”
In response, Matthew LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the school district, stated that the student had been in the kindergarten dismissal line instead of the first-grade line. He explained that Grantham’s late arrival meant the first-grade area was empty, and the staff had to locate the child in the wrong line before reuniting him with his mother. According to LeBlanc, this process took about 10 minutes from the time Grantham arrived at the front office.
LeBlanc assured that on Thursday, staff ensured Grantham’s son was placed in the correct dismissal line for future pick-ups.
