Starting in September, a statewide effort to better ensure school safety will get underway.
Representatives of the Texas School Safety Center have been tasked with checking whether school doors are locked and will conduct random checks at Texas schools over the next several months.
“We’re going to be checking to see if we can gain unsecured unauthorized access to a campus,” said Kathy Martinez-Prather, director of the Texas School Safety Center. “And while that seems like such a small piece to the puzzle, it’s a very significant piece, because we know that locked doors create time barriers, and time barriers save lives.”
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott pushed for the safety checks in the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde in May, where 19 students and two teachers were killed by a teenage gunman who entered the building through an unlocked door.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
In the month prior to a specific campus being checked, the district’s superintendent will be notified, as will local law enforcement.
Martinez-Prather emphasized that her people are not conducting active shooter drills, and will make no attempt to actually go inside the school buildings.
“We are not going to be simulating an intrusion of any kind. We are not going to have individuals dressed as threat actors carrying weapons, trying to forcefully enter a campus. These individuals are going to be trained, plain-clothed, and at any point in time if they’re confronted by school personnel will self-identify,” Martinez-Prather said.
Texas News
News from around the state of Texas.
The goal is for at least 7 in 10 schools to be checked before the end of the current school year.
