An El Paso family is demanding answers after their 8-year-old son with autism slipped away from Desertaire Elementary, left campus unnoticed, and was found hours later walking near the family’s home. The boy was dropped off at school in the morning and discovered by his father roughly two miles away about three hours later, a scare that has parents and neighbors suddenly questioning just how secure the campus really is.
Moises and Lucia Sosa say they left their son at Desertaire around 7:35 a.m. His father, who works overnight, told reporters he later spotted the child pacing outside their home at about 10 a.m. The family says they immediately called the school, and that the principal, a security guard, and a teacher did not show up at the house until a couple of hours after that first phone call. The Sosas have since filed a police report and say their son will not return to class until they receive clear assurances about his safety, as reported by KFOX14.
The family shared home-surveillance video with reporters that appears to show the tense exchange at their front door when school officials came by. In one clip, the principal is heard telling the parents, “I don’t know what to tell you…I don’t know.” In another, a Ysleta ISD security guard tells administrators that the door the child appears to have used “doesn’t have a lock.” That footage has become central to the Sosas’ push for answers, according to KFOX14.
District Response And The Law
Ysleta ISD told reporters it is “aware of the situation and is taking appropriate administrative action” and said the emergency-egress gate the student used is operational. The district added that it is cooperating with authorities. Under Texas Administrative Code §61.1031, gateways and perimeter hardware on school instructional facilities must be maintained and, when gated, must include emergency-egress features that allow people to exit without special tools or keys…