Special-ed kids left during bomb threat

BUDA, Texas (KXAN) - There is controversy swirling around Hays High School after two classrooms of special education students were not included in the building evacuation during a bomb scare.

The bomb threat was phoned in the morning of Jan. 29 according to Hays Consolidated Independent School District. Two hours later the school evacuated its 1,850 students. Eight special needs students, five of them with physical-disabilities, were kept in their classrooms after the area was deemed safe following a security sweep.

Principal Shirley Reich said one reason the children were kept inside was the chilly day, 47 degrees outside, and that “if anything I erred on the side of compassion for them.”

Parents of some of those students are angry with the school’s decision. Lisa Gorena, mother of one student with special needs, said, “I think there were better options. The bus barn is ten minutes away. They could have asked a bus to come over and placed the children on a bus, and then move them to a safer location.”

The school district said it has reassessed its evacuation policy. Several parents are expected to meet Friday with the principal.

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