Harford Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson broke his silence Monday night on allegations that the public school system allowed a teaching aide to continue working at Edgewood Elementary School after the aide was found guilty of illegal gun possession.

In a video statement posted on YouTube, Bulson said the school system’s procedures do not “adequately address” his expectations for “timely action, appropriate oversight and the best judgement to ensure the safest possible conditions,” in schools. He called the situation “unacceptable.”

Kairen Thomas, 28, of Parkville, was hired as an inclusion helper at Edgewood Elementary School in April 2023 to provide one-on-one support to students with severe disabilities. On March 5, 2024, roughly a year after Thomas began working in Harford schools, Thomas was arrested on charges related to the possession of an unregistered firearm, referred to as a ghost gun. He was found guilty of those charges and put on probation, then was arrested again in July on a gun possession violation.

On Thursday, when the charges came to light, the school system’s Manager of Communications Jillian Lader said Thomas was “no longer in a school building” and that he had been placed on leave, but that she did not know the specifics. On Tuesday, Lader said Thomas was no longer employed by Harford County Public Schools.

Lader would not say the date Thomas’s employment ended or the details of his leave prior to his termination, calling the issue a “personnel matter.”

Bulson said in the video that the school system is “taking immediate steps to understand how this occurred and to ensure this does not happen again. Where our processes fall short, we are correcting them; where expectations are unclear, we are strengthening them, and where accountability is needed, it will be applied.”

Thomas’s employment marks the second time that Harford County Public Schools has been called out in recent months regarding staff being employed while actively facing charges for serious crimes.

In November, allegations came to light that Edgewood Middle School English teacher Lawrence Smith was been hired by the school system while he was facing 15 felony charges related to his time as a Baltimore City Schools police detective.

In mid-October, Smith pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion. At that time, Smith was placed on administrative leave by Harford Schools. A few days later Smith chose to resign, according to Lader.

Board of Education President Aaron Poynton previously said the school system’s hiring processes are mandated by the state and that Smith was able to gain employment with the school system because the crimes he faced did not meet a certain criterion — such as child sexual abuse, crimes of violence, or sexual offenses — that would have triggered state law to prohibit his employment.

Despite the alleged flaw in state law, Bulson and the school system faced criticism from parents, community members and state lawmakers over the hiring and continued employment of both Thomas and Smith.

Though Smith’s hiring and the continued employment of Thomas are what Bulson called “very different” circumstances, he said that if the school system’s investigation finds areas of state law that can be improved, he will work with the Board of Education to advocate for changes.

Poynton shared Bulson’s video on social media and said: “Current state laws do not always provide school systems with the tools needed to address situations involving individuals charged with serious offenses,” and that places the community at risk.

“For that reason, I am working with my colleagues and legal counsel to draft a new local Board policy for Harford County Public Schools—one that exceeds minimum state requirements,” Poynton wrote.

He explained that the policy would prohibit the hiring, promotion, or continued employment of individuals charged with serious offenses, including drug distribution, weapons offenses, crimes against vulnerable populations — particularly children — and crimes of moral turpitude.

Poynton said he intends to bring the new policy before the Harford County Board of Education in the coming weeks.

“Our students and staff deserve a safe, secure learning environment, and I am committed to taking every necessary action, through policy, oversight and accountability, to ensure we uphold that standard,” Poynton wrote.

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