The superintendent of Rising Star Independent School District in Texas resigned after a third grader found his gun in a school bathroom.
Robby Stuteville tendered his resignation on Monday. It will be accepted at a school board meeting on Thursday, Monty Jones, the secondary principal for grades 6 through 12 told NBC News.
Jones will be acting as superintendent until district officials find Stuteville’s replacement.
A third grade student at Rising Star Elementary School found the gun unattended in the bathroom and told a teacher. Once the teacher confirmed that it was a gun, they reported it to the superintendent.
Stuteville said the child never touched the gun. He told NBC affiliate KRBC that he left the weapon unattended for approximately 15 minutes after taking the gun out to use the bathroom.
Though the incident happened in January, parents were not aware of it until last week.
Jones said he understands why parents would be upset and said he believes Stuteville made a mistake, according to NBC.
“He took a lot of pride in his job, and it was an accident that happened and he felt extremely bad about it,” Jones said of Stuteville. “He just didn’t feel like it was a situation to where he could carry on without further distractions. No one to my knowledge called for his resignation. And the board certainly did not. We were very supportive and we were trying to work through it.”
