MEDFORD, Ore. — The Medford School Board fired a Hedrick Middle School campus monitor on the grounds of insubordination for defiantly carrying a semiautomatic weapon to work.
In January, Hedrick Middle School hired Donald Later, 64, a retired corrections agency, as a part-time campus monitor who directed students on and off buses, and monitored students during lunch breaks. Although the job description didn’t require Later to carry firearms, he informed district officials on March 26 that he was going to carry a gun on campus, believing that he would be more effective if armed, the Mail Tribune reports.
A month later, Later received a two-page letter detailing how employees carrying weapons on campus were in violation of the district’s policy and could be subject to discipline with the possibility of termination. In May, the school board terminated Later.
Later appealed the decision, citing a state law that allows honorably retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon with a permit and not be prosecuted. However, on June 18, the school board upheld the decision to dismiss Later, stating that he continued to carry a gun on campus after he was told not to.
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