Galveston mother claims her son with special needs was left alone in classroom after school

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — A mother in Galveston is outraged after she says her son who has special needs didn’t come home from school one day.

“How can you leave a child alone in a room? Let alone, a child with special needs,” Sierra Waire-Minix asked.

That’s the question that’s been on the mind of Sierra Waire-Minix since Thursday after she says she went to get her son Jrew from the bus stop after school, something she does every weekday around 5:15 p.m.

“My initial thought was ‘What is happening, where is my child, did anybody take my child?'” Sierra said.

Sierra says Jrew is a 10-year-old 5th grader at Weis Middle School in Galveston and needs special accommodation in the classroom because of what she says are intellectual disabilities.

“Here he receives, OT, PT, speech. He’s able to adjust as far as everyday living abilities but he does need help. He’s not able to fully think for himself,” Sierra said.

When she couldn’t find Jrew, she made several calls, including to the school’s assistant principal, where she finally got an answer.

She tells ABC13 she was told Jrew was found inside of a locked classroom, by himself, asleep.

While Sierra was able to pick him up, she says she hasn’t been told by staff or the school district how this happened.

“I want answers. I want accountability. I would like to have this whole situation evaluated,” Sierra said.

ABC13 reached out to Galveston ISD and spokesperson confirms an incident happened on campus that same day after hours and investigation is underway but didn’t provide any details beyond that.

Sierra says after what happened with her son, she wants district leaders to do more to prevent a situation like this one from happening again.

“They need to crack down on rules. They need to be more strict. They need to add more training,” Sierra said.

For updates, follow Mo Haider on Facebook, X and Instagram.