6-Year-Old with Special Needs Found Alone on Busy Houston Road After School Mix-up
In a concerning incident, Serenity Polk, a 6-year-old special needs student at Lantrip Elementary School in Houston, Texas, was discovered walking along the bustling I-45 feeder road last week. A homeless man came to the rescue after noticing the young girl alone. Recognizing her disoriented state, he dialed the school’s number found on her shirt.
Serenity, who is deaf in both ears, was in distress by the time her mother, Mercedes Polk, was informed of her whereabouts. She recounted the events, “A homeless man that holds the sign right there on Cullen and I-45 found my daughter. He contacted the school. The school went to go get her. She wouldn’t get in the car with them. So the school contacted the police. She wouldn’t get in the car with the police, and that’s when they called me. All that time I thought my daughter was in the school building.”
Serenity, a car rider, had been mistakenly released from school as a walker and placed in the wrong line. Her mother explained the distinction, “The walkers have a red badge. The car riders have white badges.” Her mother was understandably distraught, fearing for her child’s safety. “I was thinking, ‘I just lost my husband, now I’m about to lose my child.’ I didn’t know if she was raped, murdered, kidnapped, hit by a car.”
The Houston Police Department revealed that school officials attributed the mix-up to a substitute teacher who placed Serenity in the wrong line.
Mercedes Polk expressed her fears, saying, “My fears are this could happen to another child. My child could have died.” Child Protective Services is currently investigating the incident.
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of safeguarding students, especially those with special needs, during their commute from school to home.