Uvalde students returning to school on Sept. 6 will see additional police officers protecting them, four months after a fatal shooting at an elementary school exposed security flaws and left the community reeling.
When school in the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) starts, 30 law enforcement officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will be stationed there.
The extra police presence was requested by UCISD Superintendent Hal Harrell, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press release.
The move comes in light of the massacre at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School on May 24, which left 19 children and two teachers dead. Uvalde school and local police were criticized for fleeing from gunfire and waiting more than an hour to kill the gunman.
“The beginning of a new school year should be an exciting time for students and teachers, and the State of Texas is working to provide that for the Uvalde community. … Texas will keep working to provide all available support and resources to the Uvalde community as they continue to heal,” Mr. Abbott said in the statement.
The start of school will be the first time some Uvalde students have entered a classroom since May 24. Robb Elementary School is slated to be demolished, as officials fear students would be traumatized having to return to the scene of the massacre, the Daily Mail reported.
“We know going back to school will be especially challenging for many in Uvalde. The Texas DPS is committed to working with the UCISD to ensure each child, parent, and teacher feels safe and protected during this difficult time,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement.
While Uvalde school and local police have taken the brunt of public outrage and official inquiry into the May 24 tragedy, the jury is still out on the role that 91 DPS officers at the scene played that day.
The Texas Rangers, a division of the DPS, is leading an investigation into the response by law enforcement to the shooting.
On Wednesday, a court ruled that DPS didn’t have to turn over their records related to the Robb Elementary massacre to state Sen. Roland Gutierrez.
The ruling was not a blanket ban, however, as the judge determined that Mr. Gutierrez filed his record request incorrectly, according to the Daily Mail.
Prosecutor Christina Busbee urged the court to keep the DPS records sealed for now.
Ms. Busbee argued that releasing the information could compromise the ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers, according to the Texas Tribune.
“It is most absurd that Department of Public Safety continues to fight even the most benign distribution of documents, like a training manual. And they refuse to do it because they’re culpable of negligence and malfeasance on that day,” Mr. Gutierrez told the Texas Tribune.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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