LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Fayette County mother is suing the Fayette County Public Schools district after she says her young son, who is on the autism spectrum and mostly nonverbal, slipped out of his classroom unnoticed and ended up on one of Lexington's busiest roads.
"It was the worst day of my life," Leslie Weston said, referring to the day her 7-year-old son left his classroom at Meadowthorpe Elementary and ended up on New Circle Road.
According to court documents, the child got out through a classroom window, and it was Lexington Animal Care and Control officers that spotted him on the busy road and brought him to the hospital. Officers reported he was "terrified," had vomited, and showed an elevated heart rate.
Weston said the incident brought her deepest fears to life.
"My mind just went straight for the worst because this is my biggest fear and I've always thought, 'What if that happens?' or you see news stories and you're like, 'I hope that never happens to my son,' and then it did. So it was all of my worst fears coming to life," Weston said.
The lawsuit claims the school never reported the boy missing during the roughly 40 minutes he was gone. Attorneys Masten Childers and Kaci Christopher are questioning the protocol at Meadowthorpe Elementary and demanding accountability. Their lawsuit names the Board of Education, the FCPS superintendent, teachers, paraeducators, and administrators at the school.
"That's what we're trying to figure out here, who all was responsible for him getting out of the school and making it to New Circle Road and wandering around for about an hour?" Childers said.
Christopher described how close the situation came to a potentially fatal outcome.
"He was on the side of the road almost crossing a concrete barrier, so we don't want to think about what could have happened and we're grateful it didn't, but it certainly was a possibility," Christopher said.
According to the complaint, Child Protective Services investigated and substantiated findings of abandonment, supervision neglect, and threat of physical abuse related to the incident.
The attorneys say staff knew the boy was drawn to a classroom window, and one teacher had requested a lock a month before the incident. But on November 17, the lawsuit alleges no lock had been installed and the window was left open and unattended.
Even after officers had the boy at the hospital, no report had been made by the school. Officers noticed him chewing on a "recess" sticker and connected the dots to Meadowthorpe Elementary. When they called to see if the school was missing a student, the staff member who answered was not aware a student was missing, according to the complaint.
Childers said parents of children with autism trust schools to meet their children's specific needs.
"Parents who have kids with autism that are prone to eloping, when they send their kids to public school, especially in Fayette County, they expect that those necessary needs are taken care of. They knew about Leslie's son and the danger of potential elopement, and they didn't take the steps necessary to make sure he didn't elope, and that's why we're here today," Childers said.
Weston said she hopes the lawsuit leads to stronger safety measures for students with special needs.
"I was shocked to learn a lot of the things after hearing more and more details, I was shocked that there weren't better protocols in place for this, and I'm hoping change will come to that and that we'll have better safety measures for our kids, especially those with special needs who need more supervision," Weston said.
The attorneys allege negligence and seek damages on behalf of the boy. They have requested a jury trial in Fayette Circuit Court.
