Fay School employee arrested for making threats

[Editor’s Note: Fay School is an advertiser on MySouthborough.]

The former lead custodian of Fay School will face charges in court tomorrow for allegedly threatening “members” the school’s “community”.

The incident took place last Friday, purportedly after the school’s lead custodian “received feedback about his job performance”. According to the school, a co-worker reported that he made verbal threats. The employee was then fired. The incident escalated with Southborough Police being called in to escort him off campus, and subsequent charges filed.

According to a press release from the SPD, the Webster man is due in court tomorrow. Chief Kenneth Paulhus wrote:

On, 9/21/2018, at 1205 hours, the Southborough Police responded to the Fay School, located at 48 Main Street, to assist with the termination of an employee. During that time, it was learned the employee, [the accused] (age 51) of Webster MA, had made statements considered threatening. He was escorted off the property. After further investigation, a Criminal Application was obtained in Westborough District Court charging Mr. Pepper with Chapter 269 Section 14, Terroristic Threat, which was served by the Webster Police Department.
He is scheduled appear in Westborough District Court on September 28, 2018.

Fay School followed up with me to share the letter sent to parents explaining the situation:

Dear Fay Parents,

I’m writing to share information about an incident that may receive media attention. On Friday, September 21, we learned that Fay’s lead custodian, [the accused], had made verbal threats against members of our school community after receiving feedback about his job performance. A concerned co-worker reported his threats, and administrators immediately investigated and confirmed the report.

As a result, [the accused]’s employment at Fay was terminated that same day, and he was escorted from campus by officers from the Southborough Police Department. [the accused] was subsequently charged with making a threat and was served with a summons to appear in court on Friday, September 28. Fay will continue to assist authorities who are investigating this incident.

Before [the accused] was hired at Fay in 2017, he went through the same criminal and professional background review process that the School follows for all prospective employees. The process includes fingerprinting, CORI and SORI checks, and reference checks. We had not received any other reports of threatening behavior prior to his termination on Friday.

I want to assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority. We have a close and valued relationship with the Southborough police and fire departments, and we consult with them regularly on matters of safety and security. The departments regularly review our crisis and emergency plans, recommend changes in procedure, and observe the drills we practice with faculty, staff, and students. We use the feedback we receive from these departments to make enhancements and upgrades to our safety and security on an ongoing basis.

Fay also has the benefit of proximity to the town’s safety building; emergency responders usually arrive on campus within one minute of the moment we call. In this case, we acted quickly and decisively as soon as we were made aware of a concern, and we benefited from a swift, strong response from the Police Department. The police are currently maintaining an increased awareness of our campus.

I wanted to share this information with you personally, as it is likely to appear in the media this week. I will send another update if there is more information to share. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Rob Gustavson

Head of School