DALLAS — Gov. Greg Abbott wants state officials to randomly inspect schools to test safety protocols after a gunman burst into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 children and two teachers.
In a Wednesday letter, Abbott charged the director of the Texas School Safety Center to work with the state education agency on implementing the safety checks.
“Your team should begin conducting in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts,” Abbott wrote to Kathy Martinez-Prather. “Staff should approach campuses to find weak points and how quickly they can penetrate buildings without being stopped.”
In the aftermath of the Robb Elementary massacre, Republican state leaders – who have steadily chipped away at gun restrictions in recent years – didn’t immediately indicate a willingness to institute new gun control measures. Instead, they focused on the idea of “hardening” campuses. Some suggested limiting school entrances and arming more teachers.
Also on Wednesday, Abbott asked lawmakers to convene special legislative committees to examine what legislation and action might be taken to prevent future school shootings. He specified a focus on mental health, social media, police training and firearm safety. His letter did not mention consideration of firearms restrictions, which some are clamoring for after the 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde used an assault rifle to kill fourth-graders and their teachers.
Abbott asked the school safety center to work with the Legislature to draft recommendations for improving security systems, as well as determining what kind of funding would be necessary.
“This issue will no doubt be at the forefront of the next Legislative Session,” the governor wrote. “You have my full support to make recommendations for consideration by the Legislature.”
Abbott’s letter to Martinez-Prather notes that the state should institute “a culture of constant vigilance is ingrained in every campus and in every school district employee across the state.”
Texas is home to more than 1,000 public school districts and charters. Texas schools encompass more than 8,000 campuses and 672 million square feet, according to the National Council on School Facilities.
Four years ago, Texas was rocked by another school tragedy. After the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School, state leaders gave districts more money for security and demanded better planning and training if someone did arrive on a campus with a weapon. Abbott’s staff drafted a 40-page list of recommendations, which informed state policy through the resulting Senate Bill 11.
Texas now gives an annual per-student allotment for school safety, designed to help districts fund the purchases of new equipment, training and other programs around safety and security. Districts must adopt an emergency operations plan, train all employees on how to handle emergencies and create “threat assessments teams” for campuses.
The commissioner of education was also tasked with establishing building standards to “provide a secure and safe environment,” while a separate piece of legislation gave $100 million in grants for schools to harden campuses.
Some campus leaders say this money isn’t enough and making big changes to campuses largely falls on local taxpayers instead.
Abbott said he expects every district’s Safety and Security Committee to meet this summer and review their procedures ahead of the next school year, as well as assess all of their procedures for school access, including door locks and check-in protocols.
He asked for a report on districts’ progress by Oct. 1.
Abbott added that he will be working with state education officials to hold districts who don’t comply with safety standards accountable.
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