Maybe CMS’ reluctance to deal to with Jimmie Grubbs is starting to make some sort of weird sense. Grubbs, you’ll recall, is the serial child abuser/teacher that CMS’ internal security force dithered with for months allowing Grubbs to continue to abuse kids, at least one in a mobile classroom Bradley Middle School in Huntersville.

Now comes this bit of sunshine:

A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools security guard was arrested this week, almost five months after he was accused of exposing himself to a high school student.

Dallas O’Brien Cooper, 37, was arrested Wednesday and charged with two counts of attempted sexual act by school personnel, jail records show.

The charges stem from an incident Feb 27 at Vance High School. The student told police that Cooper touched her breast and exposed himself, police said.

The school system learned of the accusation March 2, said CMS spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry, then suspended Cooper with pay the next day pending the outcome of the investigation. The school security associate was terminated Tuesday, she said.

The school district is “deeply concerned” about the allegations, Henry said. “He violated the student’s trust, and that’s unacceptable,” she said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police worked with the school system as soon as they learned of the allegation, she said. The police report was filed March 13. It’s not clear why there was a delay in the report.

Couple things. The CMS School Law Enforcement Department is utterly incompetent. The Grubbs case told us that much.

Then there is the fact that Dallas Cooper was arrested in June 2005 on three misdemeanor charges, including communicating threats. He stayed on the job as a CMS security guard.

Better still, there is no indication that CMS kept its solemn pledge made in the wake of the Grubbs fiasco to notify county social services of sexual assault allegations involving school personnel. Did they report the Cooper incident or not? If not, why not?

Here’s a real easy one for new superintendent Peter Gorman to shake-up CMS and do some real good for our community. First thing Monday morning Gorman needs to direct Ralph Taylor, or whomever the hell is responsible, to take 30 days to explore out-sourcing functions of the School Law Enforcement Department.

The official rationale for the department: “The School Law Enforcement Department conducts investigations of alleged inappropriate conduct by employees and of crimes against school board property.”

Well, CMS’ internal police has proven it cannot do the first part of that job and much of the second part can be done by Brinks or some other contractor. Enough is enough. School safety is not negotiable.

BTW, I think the blog Crime in Charlotte was the first outlet anywhere to report Cooper’s arrest.