(Texas Scorecard) – A security guard who worked at an elementary school in Carlisle Independent School District is in jail, accused of a sex crime involving a child.
Keith Russell McFarland was arrested Monday and charged with indecency with a child by sexual contact, a felony.
Carlisle ISD is located in East Texas near Henderson in Rusk County.
McFarland is currently being held in the Rusk County Jail, but the warrant was issued by Bexar County authorities.
A notice posted on Facebook by Carlisle ISD Administration stated:
We have officially been notified today by the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department that the security officer we used last year and were planning to use this year has been detained for a warrant from another county. He was not a Carlisle ISD employee, but was contracted through a separate private security agency. He will no longer be assigned to our school district moving forward, effective immediately.
Local parent Lakin Gamble then identified the security guard in a comment on the district’s post.
“It was Keith McFarland, the armed security guard that was present on campus daily,” Gamble wrote. “He stood at the elementary school drop off and pick up line everyday. He was at after school events, patrolled the parking lots, and searched students.”
Tunya Waggoner, a Carlisle ISD school board member, joined the online conversation, telling concerned parents that background checks are “ongoing.”
If there is something that hits the DPS IT AUTOMATICALLY comes up! It’s every day not just once a semester.
This apparently was something that happened before he came to Carlisle and is just now being investigated otherwise it would have shown up! Also since Mr McFarland wasn’t an actual employee of the school and was hired through another agency it’s against the law for us to do the background check…..but the agency does the same background check we do so if there was anything that would come up in the system they would have been made aware of it.
“Bottom line is as soon as the school was notified of anything it was relayed to our parents. The safety of our kids are our number one priority!” added Waggoner.
In a similar incident last month, the owner of a security company hired by Northwest ISD was accused of sexually assaulting a child.
Kirk Stanley Grable, 54, was arrested July 16 and booked into Parker County Jail on charges of sexual assault of a child and prohibited sexual contact. He was released the next day after posting a half-million dollar bond—$250,000 for each felony charge.
According to a Fox 4 News report, Grable owns a private security company hired by Northwest ISD in January to comply with a new state law requiring armed security guards on all school campuses.
However, Northwest ISD said it has no record of Grable ever visiting any of the schools or interacting with any students.
“The protection of our students is our top priority, and we take any allegations of danger to children seriously,” Northwest ISD said in a statement.
While school district officials routinely say student safety is a priority, their actions often tell a different story.
In 2022, Carlisle Junior High Principal Paul Richards was arrested for failing to report an alleged sexual assault of a student by another student. Richards received a reprimand on his Texas educator certificate but kept his job as the school’s principal.
Parent advocate Rachel Hale, who lives in Henderson, told Texas Scorecard that schools hiring people who abuse children has become “an epidemic, not just across the state but across the nation.” Too often, bad actors—and the administrators who cover for them—are able to keep working around kids.
Hale works with advocacy organization Texas Education 911 to help families statewide seek compliance from local school officials.
In addition, her organization promotes parent-driven solutions to problems that plague the public education system—including the continuous stream of teachers and other school employees charged with sexual misconduct.
“This is what we are fighting for,” Hale said.