A state inspector posing as a “intruder” was able to enter a school cafeteria in Uvalde, Texas, while conducting a necessary safety audit, according to the interim superintendent of the district.
Gary Patterson of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District presented key findings from a comprehensive end-of-year safety and security report at the most recent monthly school board meeting in Uvalde on Monday. The audit was conducted as part of a larger program in Texas to determine whether public school districts have adequately implemented their hazard response procedures.
Patterson stated that the Texas School Safety Center inspector was able to enter the cafeteria of an unidentified public school building in the district through a door that was not properly secured. The inspector conducted the same “intrusion detection audit” at three different schools around the district, none of which were mentioned during this week’s board meeting, and according to the superintendent, just one was vulnerable to intrusion.
Patterson stated that the building where the unlawful access occurred had a door connecting from the cafeteria loading dock into the main building with a malfunctioning latch that only fully closed when the door was slammed shut. According to the official, the inspector entered the facility through this door as the cafeteria took a delivery. The inspector then reviewed updated safety standards designed to protect kids and workers within Uvalde public schools. In addition to modern and functional doors, these practices include bulletproof windows, metal detectors, and hundreds of more surveillance cameras.
Officers of the law converse outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, following the mass massacre at Robb Elementary School. BRANDON BELL / Getty Photographs
Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, issued an order mandating random threat assessment audits to be done by the Texas School Safety Center in collaboration with the Texas Education Agency.
Abbott wrote in a letter to Dr. Kathy Martinez-Prather, the director of the school safety center, in June of last year, “I am directing the Texas School Safety Center, in coordination with the TEA, to develop and implement a plan for conducting random inspections to assess the access control measures of Texas school districts.” “Among other reviews, your team should initiate random, unannounced, in-person audits of intrusion detection in school districts.”
Abbott’s order closely followed the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24. An 18-year-old former student, Salvador Ramos, entered the building with an AR-15-style rifle through an unlocked side entrance door after firing shots outside the school for approximately five minutes. Once inside, the assailant opened fire, killing 19 pupils and two teachers and wounding 17 others.
During the summer, Texas lawmakers produced a comprehensive study outlining what officials have described as a sequence of errors made by law enforcement officers and administrators during their reaction to the killing. Nearly 400 law enforcement personnel, including 90 state troopers, rushed the elementary school following the killing, but waited around one hour before approaching the gunman, who had barricaded himself in one of the classrooms. The gunman was subsequently shot dead by U.S. personnel. Border Patrol’s tactical division.
»Superintendent said an intruder was able to enter the Uvalde school during a safety exam«