Security guard out of a job after leaving gun unattended in empty 5th-grade classroom, FBISD says
This is the second time a security guard at Fort Bend ISD is accused of leaving his gun unattended at an elementary school campus.
FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Two security guards are no longer working at Fort Bend ISD elementary schools after incidents in which both left guns unattended on campus.
In both cases, children never touched the firearms. However, the mishaps did lead to discipline for security guards hired to keep children safe.
The separate incidents happened weeks apart at Sullivan Elementary and then at Sugar Mill Elementary.
The district told ABC13 that in January, the contracted security guard at Sullivan left a weapon in a staff bathroom. Students did not have access, and the district says a teacher found the weapon and notified the administration and FBISD police.
Then, in early February, in an empty fifth-grade classroom at Sugar Mill, a guard removed a duty belt and holstered weapons and left it. The guard retrieved it after a teacher and students returned to the class.
In a letter to parents, the principal wrote:
"No students handled the duty belt. I understand this news may be unsettling. Please know the safety and security of FBISD students and staff remain our top priority, and the security officer will not return to the school. Further, the guard has been removed from rotation at any Fort Bend ISD school in the future. As a result of this incident, we will be reinforcing our safety protocols with contracted armed security officers in FBISD."
Eyewitness News learned the two private security companies involved are Andy Frain Services and Veterans Serving America. Andy Frain Services has yet to return our call for comment. VSA did return our call, but the spokesperson had no knowledge of the incident and could not comment, nor would he have commented on an ongoing internal investigation. But both were hired to provide security on the district's 51 elementary school campuses at the beginning of January.
The district is spending $2.5 million on security guards as part of House Bill 3, a new law that requires public schools to have armed security on every campus.
FBISD already had police officers on middle and high school campuses but could not hire enough officers for elementary schools and opted, instead, to hire private security.
The district has already been in contact with both contractors, and neither guard will return to FBISD campuses.
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