An elementary school superintendent in Texas resigned weeks after a student found his weapon unattended on school grounds.
Robby Stuteville, the former superintendent at Rising Star Independent School District, submitted his resignation on Monday, local news station KTAB reported. It comes weeks after a third grader at the school found his weapon left behind in a bathroom stall.
The student did not move the weapon and alerted a teacher, who then sent a second student to corroborate that the gun was real. The district only informed parents and police of the January incident last Wednesday, 15 February, prompting complaints.
An emergency meeting will be held on Tuesday to appoint an acting superintendent.
An investigation is also underway by the Rising Star Police Department.
In a statement to parents last week, Mr Stuteville commended the student for responsibly notifying a teacher after finding the gun.
“There was never a danger other than the obvious,” Mr Stuteville said, per KTAB.
According to the outlet, both the principal at Rising Star and Mr Stuteville open carry on campus.
Mr Stuteville said he used the restroom and forgot his gun in the stall before it was found about 15 minutes later by the student.
“This is one of those examples of guns in schools ... Regardless of who takes responsibility, they are a considerable danger and one should school their child to be on the lookout for any unusual placement of a weapon or anything out of place,” he also said.
Giovanni Mata, whose son was sent to check that the weapon was indeed real after the first student found it, criticised the teacher’s course of action.
“So the teacher asked another kid, my son… ‘Can you go see if it’s a real gun?’ Why would you send a kid? Why not send someone else,” Mr Mata told KRBC.
At a board meeting last week, parents voiced concerns that the incident was not immediately shared with them or authorities.
“If this was your kid in that situation I’m sure you would act completely different… You can’t say that was a mistake to leave a gun there. you can’t mistake a life,” Mr Mata also said.
