Baltimore City schools face scrutiny after autistic children leave campus

Baltimore City Public Schools is facing fresh questions about whether its safeguards are failing the children who need them most, after families said autistic students were able to leave campus unnoticed at Westport Elementary School and the Academy for College and Career Exploration.

In one case, a 10-year-old boy wandered away from Westport Elementary School in Westport on Tuesday, and his mother said she learned he was missing from a doorbell camera alert at home, not from school staff. Another family said a child left the Academy for College and Career Exploration in North Baltimore and was later assaulted by other students. Attorney Thiru Vignarajah said the families are moving toward legal action, and the frustration spilled into the scene outside the district office, where parents described what they saw as a failure of basic safety and leadership.

The details have sharpened concern because the children involved were autistic and expected to receive close supervision and structure. Parents of children with disabilities often rely on schools to provide that added protection, and these families say that trust was broken when students were able to get off campus without staff noticing right away.

The new allegations are not the first time Baltimore City schools have faced this kind of scrutiny. In May 2025, another Baltimore City family notified the district of its intent to sue after a 6-year-old boy wandered away from Fallstaff Elementary/Middle School, crossed busy Reisterstown Road and was later found about half a mile away at a shopping center. That earlier case added to concerns that supervision problems are not limited to a single school or a single day.

Baltimore City Public Schools says it enrolled 76,362 students in the 2025-26 school year, with the official count based on Sept. 30 enrollment. The district says schools are required to maintain emergency safety plans and conduct drills, and its special education materials say local systems must develop yearly staffing plans to ensure enough staff to provide a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. The district also points families to a Parent Response Unit, Child Find, IEPs and 504 plans.

The state says its Division of Special Education provides leadership, accountability, technical assistance and resource management for children with disabilities from birth through age 21, and Maryland law requires students with disabilities to receive a free appropriate public education. Against that backdrop, Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners approved a $1.95 billion FY 2027 operating budget on May 5, 2026, putting staffing and student safety back at the center of a district already under pressure to prove it can protect its most vulnerable children.