Pearland school officials plan to review the district’s safety procedures after a visitor brought a handgun into the Administration Building – the second handgun incident in six months.
A Dell Co. employee was attending a Jan. 27 meeting with the district’s information technology staff when a district employee noticed a handgun in the mesh webbing of the visitor’s backpack, district officials said.
When it was pointed out, the visitor moved the pistol from the mesh area to the inside of the backpack. The district employee reported the incident to administrative staff after the meeting ended, and Pearland police were called.
The Dell employee had been traveling and forgot that he had the handgun, said Pearland police Lt. Onesimo Lopez. The visitor had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
However, the Administration Building on North Main has a sign warning visitors that it’s a federal offense to have a firearm on district property, board president Glenn Garrison said.
Still, he said, preventing incidents like this from occurring is difficult to do.
“I don’t believe any kind of signage would keep that fellow from walking in there,” Garrison said. “It was unfortunate, and short of running an airport-style security system at every entrance of every building in the district, there’s no way to guarantee that guns would be excluded.”
Glenn Garrison
Last August, Mike Watson, the head of athletic programs for Pearland schools, retired after his suspension for allegedly bringing a weapon onto district property. School district officials are in the interview process for a replacement for Watson.
Trustee Suzy Roberts said that having two gun incidents on district property within the past six months is unacceptable. The latest requests for a review of safety policies and procedures “should have happened after the first gun incident,” she said.
Suzy Roberts
“It think (responsibility) rests fully in the lap of the leader of this district (Superintendent Bonny Cain),” Roberts said. “She's responsible for educating the staff and setting their job expectations.”
Roberts said she expects some trustees to try to sanction her for making the second gun incident public, and has asked district officials to review federal whistleblower laws that protect employees who report violations of rules or laws within their organization.
“I want the board to realize that I consider myself to be a whistleblower and that I’m not constrained to do what they think I should do,” Roberts said. “When you’re a whistleblower, you’re not supposed to be retaliated against.”
Trustee Lillian Smith, whom Roberts singled out as one of the trustees who want her sanctioned, declined to comment until Tuesday’s regular school board meeting.
Lillian Smith
“For me to say anything now would be senseless,” Smith said. “I think Tuesday night will explain everything.”
Garrison said that sanctioning Roberts would not be productive for the district. Further, he said, she does not qualify as a whistleblower because she is not an employee of the school district.
“I don’t feel that (sanction) is anything that is helpful to the school district or in the best interests of the board working as a group,” Garrison said. “We should be working as a group to move the district forward.”
Trustees will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Administration Building, 1928 N. Main.
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Comments
I am truly bothered!
"Pearland school officials plan to review the district’s safety procedures." Personally, I do not understand how FEDERAL LAWS can be broken and not IMMEDIATELY be reported - what safety procedures could have been in place. The employee who failed to immediately call police should be terminated along with the administrative staff that WAITED ALL DAY until the meeting was over. The police officer when notified should have immediately arrested the Dell Rep. I am a CHL permit holder as well - I have never possessed a gun and not been fully aware of it - I would call it reckless endangerment if I had - especially if I left it sitting in a bag on a chair unsupervised in a room somehwere. The District Attorney has an out, if the person was never arrested, he doesn't have to do anything - with no arrest being made - it was the police ofiicer's fault. If I get pulled over and drugs are found in my car, the officer surely isn't going to consult the District Attorney to see what he is suppose to do - he is going to arrest me; no questions asked. Mr. Garrison is right - no sign would keep somebody from walking into a district building with a gun - although, common sense in the staff could at least report it and stop it when it did happen - for the second time in less than a year, that hasn't happened - EMPLOYEES FAILED TO IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY THE AUTHORITIES WHEN A FIREARM WAS DISCOVERED ON DISTRICT PROPERTY. Hopefully a gun doesn't have to do off before that happens in the future. It was Bonnie Cain's job to fix it when "the system" messed up the first time, she failed. It's time for some heads to roll - my child deserves that! Trustees will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Administration Building, 1928 N. Main - I WILL BE THERE, WILL YOU!
Stopping Guns
Don't you think that one way to keep guns out of schools would be to prosecute offenders to the full extent of the law?
What a novel concept.
With Sam Davis
Finally
I'm so glad that Trustee Lillian Smith can finally admit that her statements are senseless. I'm not sure why she wants to hold her senseless remarks until Tuesday rather than just letting them out now but I suppose some suspense can be fun.I can't wait to see how the other trustees deal with the fact that Mrs. Roberts is the ONE person trying to actually do what is not only expected, but REQUIRED, of those responsible for educating children.Should be most interesting.
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