Rising Star superintendent's resignation accepted after gun incident
RISING STAR - The Rising Star ISD board at an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon accepted the resignation of Superintendent Robby Stuteville.
More:Rising Star gun drama: There's a lot to unpack in a sad situation
In January, Stuteville, who is licensed to carry a weapon on campus, left his weapon in an elementary school bathroom stall.
It was left unattended for about 15 minutes before being discovered by a third-grader, who reported it to a teacher.
The teacher sent two other students to confirm the report, then informed the superintendent's office.
However, the incident was not reported to authorities or to the school board, which met a week earlier to discuss the situation. Parents expressed their displeasure that they, too, were not informed about the incident a month earlier.
Monty Jones, the principal for grades 6-12, has taken the superintendent's role. Jones also is licensed to carry on campus. The administrators are armed because of school violence, and parents are aware they carry weapons on campus.
More:Guns-in-school debate supported on all sides in Abilene and Big Country
"It was a solemn meeting because we had to accept the resignation of a gentleman who has served this community for many years," said Jones after the brief meeting. "He has left a lasting impression on the parents, the grandparents and the students that he was involved with until today, and it's a sad day for all of us."
Jones, 64, said this was the first year the district has had a Guardian program, where he and Stuteville, 74, carried firearms as part of their official duties. The change was made in response to May's shooting in Uvalde at Robb Elementary School.
Due to the cost, Jones said Rising Star ISD has no school resource officer. He said both he and Stuteville underwent courses in firearm safety and mass-shooting response at Cool Breeze Training in Comanche.
According to the company's Facebook page, they are run by ex-military members and provide training in first aid, home defense, basic firearm safety and "countering the mass shooter," among other instruction.
Unlike last week's school board meeting, only a single parent, Candice Rust, came to comment on the incident and the board's response to it. She remarked that Stuteville had served the Rising Star community for more than 50 years.
"For God's sakes, he was my mother-in-law's basketball coach," Rust said. "I don't think that any parent here wanted him removed. I think that we wanted somebody to recognize the fact that y'all did not follow y'all's own emergency protocols, and that we wanted to be informed."
After the meeting, Jones addressed some of Rust's concerns.
"It's like our visitor stated, this is new for all of us. It's an ongoing process to where we're on a learning curve. But the learning curve is pretty short when it comes to the safety of our children. So we have to be on the ball, be prepared every day to fix our problems, and that's our goal," he said.
At the next board meeting in March, Jones said they will have an extensive Q&A for the community on the incident, the board's response to it and how they have changed their protocols in response to it. Originally scheduled for March 13, Jones said a new tentative date is now March 21 as the earlier date fell during spring break.
The exact time and date will be posted on the Rising Star ISD website.
"We want people to know that we do things right here and that you can trust us, and when we tell you something, that's the way it's going to be," Jones said.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Rising Star superintendent's resignation accepted after gun incident
