Mom says special needs student left unattended at Raleigh elementary school: 'I want to know why'

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- It was a Wake County mother's worst nightmare on Monday afternoon: Her son was left alone in an empty Raleigh elementary school.

Jasmine Watkins said her 10-year-old son Makari, a fourth-grader with special needs at Joyner Magnet Elementary School, called her after school on Monday unsure of what was happening. Watkins told ABC11 that Makari typically uses a special transportation service that carries four to six students every day, but when she got home from work Monday, Makari was nowhere to be found.

"I want to know what happened. I want to know why my son was left here in the school by himself," Watkins said.

Watkins said that after arriving home Monday, she noticed two missed FaceTime calls from Makari.

"I said, 'Where are you?' He said, I'm in my classroom. And his face was like, I'm confused. I'm scared. That's what he looked like to me," Watkins said.

Watkins told ABC11 that Makari has behavioral issues, and typically his teacher walks him to the transportation service that picks him up and drops him off. On Monday, she said she was told they missed him after school after he lay down for a nap.

"They basically cater to him, like they know his every move, you know what I'm saying? So how did you miss him? Out of everybody in that classroom, how did you miss Makari?" she said.

ABC11 reached out to the Wake County Public School System, which provided a statement about the incident:

"Yesterday afternoon, a Joyner student was left in a classroom unattended after dismissal due to miscommunication among staff and with the student's transportation service provider. We are reviewing our processes to ensure nothing of this nature occurs again."

Watkins said the incident was so jarring for Makari that she's planning to move him to another school.

"He trusts every single one of y'all in this school," she said. "Now, his trust is gone. My trust is gone."