Houston mother says 4-year-old mistakenly placed in wrong car during HISD dismissal

FULL INTERVIEW: Houston mother reacts after she says her child was put in the wrong vehicle at school dismissal

FOX 26 Anchor Caroline Collins spoke with a Houston mother after she says her child was put in the wrong vehicle during school dismissal. 

HOUSTON - A Houston mother says her 4-year-old daughter was mistakenly placed into a stranger’s car during dismissal at an elementary school in the Houston Independent School District, prompting a police report and renewed concerns about student safety.

Houston mother says 4-year-old daughter was placed into stranger's car during school dismissal

Daja Spencer said the incident happened Thursday during car rider dismissal at Bastian Elementary School in Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood. She said her pre-K daughter was placed into a vehicle driven by someone who was not authorized to pick her up and was driven off campus before being returned to the school.

Houston ISD confirmed the incident in a statement, saying the student was "safely and immediately returned" to campus.

"When she came to the car, she was crying and very upset," Spencer said. "She told me, ‘Mommy, I was put in the wrong car. I didn’t see you. I didn’t see daddy. Why didn’t you come save me?’"

Spencer said her daughter told school staff she was getting into the wrong vehicle before being placed inside.

Houston ISD said the student remained in the front office with staff while the parent was contacted and arrived to pick up the child. Spencer disputes that account.

"My child was in a car with a stranger from about 3:12 p.m. to about 3:24 p.m.," Spencer said. "They dropped her back off, and that’s when I arrived and learned what had happened."

Spencer said she filed a police report and took her daughter to the hospital.

"She is physically OK, but emotionally she is not," Spencer said.

She also said she has not received an incident report from the district and has been unable to obtain details about who her daughter was with or how long she was gone.

"When I go to the school, they tell me they can’t let me know anything," Spencer said.

Houston ISD said dismissal procedures for the student have been updated and that the child will now be dismissed directly from the school’s front office. The district said the employee involved has been removed from car rider duty and additional staff members have been assigned to support pre-K dismissal.

"Houston ISD is committed to ensuring the safety of students before, during and after school," the district said in a statement.

Spencer said she plans to unenroll her daughter from Bastian Elementary.

"If my daughter didn’t tell me what happened, I wouldn’t know anything," she said. Spencer added that her daughter told her there were other children in the vehicle and that the car went to a home before returning to the school.

The other side:

A statement from Houston ISD said, "During car rider dismissal on Jan. 29 at Bastian Elementary, an employee mistakenly placed a Pre-K student in the wrong car with a group of students. As the parent who was driving was leaving the campus, they realized what happened, and drove around the school to return the student. 

The student was safely and immediately returned and remained with Bastian staff in the front office while the student’s parent was contacted and arrived to pick up the student.

School administrators have updated dismissal procedures for the student involved, who will now be dismissed directly from the front office.

The employee has been removed from car rider duty, and additional staff have been assigned to support Pre-K car rider dismissal.

Houston ISD is committed to ensuring the safety of students before, during and after school."