SC autistic student leaves playground unnoticed, police say. Heavy caseload blamed
.JPG "Police reports say a special needs child walked away from a Carolina Forest Elementary playground unnoticed.")
A student with autism at Carolina Forest Elementary wandered away from the playground unnoticed, police reports say.
Police responded to a report of possible child neglect at the school on Thursday about noon. A witness said that students had been taken to the playground for an “off-scheduled recess,” and one of the students “eloped” from the playground during the transition to the cafeteria for lunch, according to the police report. The witness said the student wasn’t noticed as missing until the class was in the cafeteria.
District spokesperson Lisa Bourcier said in an email to The Sun News the student “eloped from school property and was safely returned to the school building.”
“The situation is currently under administrative review and school administration has met with the child’s parents. Our review will include policy and procedures and security of the school’s premises,” Bourcier said.
It is unclear from the report how long the student was missing and where they were located.
Police determined that the student’s supervisor had not perpetuated any criminal acts, but rather a policy violation, according to the report.
Horry County Schools allows for a 15:1 ratio of students with “’mild’ mental deficiency,” and the supervisor was “well within” that range when the incident took place, the report continues.
A substitute teacher who was on the playground during the incident said that he did not see the student walk away because he was at the back of the line focusing specifically on the “slower walkers” in the group, according to the report.
The supervisor who took the kids to the playground said that the students had been testing all morning and were “restless,” according to the police report, so she wanted to take them to the playground. The supervisor also said that her caseload has been getting heavier, and that caring for autistic children is difficult when there isn’t one-on-one attention.
She added that she had been watching the students on the playground from off to the side, and that there were other grades on the playground, making it harder to keep track of the students.
The supervisor also told police that at least four of her students “elope from time to time,” and that having students with ages ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade is “complex.”
The class was at a 4:1 ratio with about 12 students, the supervisor said in the report, and she has 15 students altogether.
When entering the school, the supervisor claims to have seen the girl, and was unsure of when she could have left, the report says.
Another witness corroborated the other accounts, and said that the situation was “largely due to miscommunication,” according to the police report.
Police determined that the case did not rise to the level of child neglect.
Horry County Schools has paid out over $1 million in settlements over the past 15 years for cases involving the abuse and improper treatment of special needs children. Bourcier previously declined to answer questions about how the district may be attempting to prevent future cases.
This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM.
