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LITTLETON, Colo. — The mother of a girl with autism is raising concerns about safety after noticing no fence separating the school grounds with a nearby park and busy street.
“I’m really scared,” mom Sara Lindholm told Contact7.
Lindholm’s 5-year-old daughter just started Kindergarten at the Centennial Academy of Fine Arts. She says her daughter has autism, which led to her concern about the lack of fence.
“My little girl runs away. She, with autism, she takes off for no reason all the time and that scares me,” she said.
There is fencing that separates back yards of homes from the west side of the school, and a fenced in baseball diamond to the east. But there is no barrier between the playground and basketball court areas from neighboring Bowles Grove Park and Federal Boulevard beyond that.
Lindholm says she met with school officials to raise her concerns.
“They’ve been saying they’ve been fighting to get a fence for 10 years,” she said. “And that’s not acceptable when you border Federal Boulevard.”
A Littleton Public Schools District spokesperson responded to Contact7’s inquiries about those concerns, saying they were only brought to the district’s attention last week. That spokesperson added: “Moving forward, the possibility of adding a fence will be considered along with other capital needs identified throughout the district.”
Fences are recommended but not required by state law. Littleton Public Schools say adults supervise all elementary school students during recess and whenever students are in the playground areas.
“I have an autistic little girl. I am her voice. I cannot not say anything,” Lindholm said.
