Texas Gov. Abbott Orders Schools To Check Doors Weekly Following Uvalde Shooting

Topline

Texas schools must conduct weekly inspections of their facilities’ outside doors, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) told state Commissioner of Education Mike Morath on Thursday, after police reported that the gunman who killed 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, May 24 entered through an unlocked door.

Key Facts

In a letter, Abbott ordered Morath to draw up new rules to make sure school facilities comply with “heightened” safety standards, and to determine the cost of putting those new rules into practice.

Abbott also directed Morath to encourage school districts to increase the presence on campuses of law enforcement officers and school marshals, who are teachers and school support staff who have been armed.

Abbott said Morath is required to act under Texas Senate Bill 11, which requires the commissioner of education to ensure that building standards for school facilities offer a safe environment.

Tangent

SB 11, requiring the commissioner of education to strengthen security measures and mental health measures at schools, was passed following the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting in which 10 people were killed.

What To Watch For

School districts must also identify measures they can take to make their campuses secure prior to the start of the new school year, Abbott said. Classes will resume August 22 at most Texas schools.

Key Background

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials initially claimed the Uvalde gunman entered the school through a propped-open door that should have been kept closed in compliance with security guidelines. Tuesday, state officials said the teacher who had at first propped open the door closed it when she spotted the shooter on campus, but the door did not lock. DPS spokesperson Travis Considine told the Associated Press that investigators were still trying to determine why the door did not lock after being closed. Local law enforcement has been criticized for its decision to wait more than an hour before breaching the classroom where the gunman was barricaded, which DPS said was due to the mistaken belief that the shooter was at that point barricaded in the room and no longer active. Federal and state agencies have launched reviews of police response to the shooting. Uvalde’s city and school district police departments have recently stopped cooperating with the state’s review, ABC News reported Tuesday.

Further Reading

“Uvalde Teacher Closed A Propped-Open Door Before School Shooting, State Reportedly Finds—Reversing Earlier Claims” (Forbes)