Posted 12:00 am Friday, January 06, 2012
TISD: John Tyler Parking Attendant Allowed Sex Offender Onto Campus Without Checking Man's ID
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
A John Tyler High School parking attendant has been terminated after details emerged that a convicted sex offender was reportedly allowed on campus to wash employees' vehicles.
The offender, 31-year-old Anthony Lawrence Taylor, who also reportedly was attending cheerleading practice on the campus, going to football games and visiting child-safe zones such as Chuck E. Cheese in Tyler, was arrested in December after authorities filed for a motion to revoke his probation for two dozen violations.
Tyler Independent School District Director of Communications Laura Jackson said during the ongoing investigation, administrators learned the parking attendant
reportedly
allowed Taylor onto the campus at least once without checking his identification as per the district's guidelines.
"That person is no longer with the district after Mr. (Shon) Joseph, John Tyler principal, learned that there were people being allowed on campus without checking their identifications," she said.
Ms. Jackson said the separation from the district was in direct correlation to Taylor being on campus, but added the policies were not followed regardless of the incident involving Taylor.
She added the attendant would have faced disciplinary action by letting anyone on campus without following policy.
Ms. Jackson said it was unclear how many times Taylor, who was convicted of a 2003 sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl in Brazoria County, reportedly had been on campus to wash cars, but she said cheer practices he attended were held after school and Taylor was never alone with the students.
Taylor, a stepfather to one of the cheerleaders, is the brother of the cheerleading team sponsor and was allowed to attend practices and provide snacks and drinks to the students.
Ms. Jackson would not discuss the sister's status with the cheerleading team but would only say she was still with the district.
However, Ms. Jackson said the investigation is ongoing and others could possibly face disciplinary action.
Superintendent Randy Reid said the incident will be investigated to the fullest and policies will be given a hard look to see whether changes are required.
"We will certainly go back through our processes. When you come on campus you are supposed to check in with the office. The challenge we have is when people come on campus after school hours," he said.
Reid said the district gets notifications when sex offenders move into the area and schools have been outfitted with the Raptor System, which checks for sex offenders and other criminals, to help alleviate the possibility of an offender being allowed on campus.
"Nothing is 100 percent, and we can always do better. We are pleased with the results of the fencing at John Tyler and access to the campus is far more restrictive than five years ago when I got here," he said.
Reid said the three police officers assigned to the school typically are inside the building and check the immediate perimeter of the building, and the parking lot areas were left to parking attendants.
But he added officers would be expected to ask questions of people on campus without permission.
He said the investigation has not shown where the car washing was being allowed or whether police officers at the campus had ever known Taylor was on campus.
"We don't know if this happened one time or multiple times or how long the individual was on campus," he said.
Reid said he was very concerned the incident had occurred, but said it would be used to provide a safer environment for the students.
"We don't believe at any point that our students were in any danger. We will take this and use it as a learning opportunity," he said.
Taylor is being held without bond in the Brazoria County Jail where he awaits a Jan. 17 probation revocation hearing.
