Texas superintendent out after third grader finds gun in restroom

A Texas school board is slated to accept the resignation of its superintendent after a third grader found his gun in a bathroom stall in January.

Robby Stuteville, superintendent of Rising Star Independent School District, was one of two district employees who started carrying a handgun on campus at the beginning of the school year in accordance with state law.

Although no one was hurt in the incident last month at Rising Star, Stuteville submitted his resignation Monday after parents raised concerns at a board meeting last week, with many saying they were upset they weren’t immediately notified about the incident, learning of it only weeks later.

Beyond the Rising Star community, the mishap has drawn scrutiny across the United States about campus safety measures as the country faces a growing number of gun violence incidents on school grounds.

Last month, a 6-year-old shot his teacher at a Virginia elementary school.

Years before the May 24 massacre of 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school — the deadliest shooting at a Texas public school — state lawmakers passed legislation in 2013 permitting school officials to carry guns on campus, a controversial practice few other states allow.

In an interview with local TV stations KTAB and KRBC last week, Stuteville acknowledged firearms are “a considerable danger” and urged parents to “school their child to be on the lookout for any unusual placement of a weapon or anything out of place.”

Stuteville did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Rising Star police opened an investigation into the incident last week, KTAB and KRBC reported.