Judy: Students and teachers
returned to school in uvalde,
Texas today for the first time
since the massacre in may that
left 21 dead, most of them
children.
Amna nawaz has our update.
Amna: The first day of school in
uvalde, Texas.
Bus rides, backpacks, and kids
back in the classroom.
But the new school year here
comes with new concerns.
It was just over 3 months ago
that 19 children and 2 teachers
were killed by an 18-year-old
gunman at Robb elementary.
Today parents, teachers, and
students worry are their schools
safe?
For Veronica Mata, whose 10-year
old daughter, Tess, was killed
that day, it was never a
question of if she would return
to teaching, but when.
Veronica: There was a question
of whether I was mentally ready.
But not to go back.
But teaching was always
something that I wanted to do.
And I know that Tess would have
wanted me to go back.
Amna: But not everyone carries
that confidence about returning
to class.
A number of students have opted
into homeschooling or virtual
learning.
And since Robb elementary will
not reopen its doors, many
students are attending new, and
different schools in the area.
One of those, uvalde elementary
-- where Veronica Mata teaches
-- unveiled new security
measures like high fencing,
security cameras, and more
secure doors.
Kristy: So you'll walk this way,
we have our buzz system right
here.
Just press it there, hold it,
and then I can hear it ringing,
and there we go.
Amna: And the Texas department
of public safety has committed
dozens of officers to patrol
uvalde school campuses.
But many here are still angry
over the botched police response
to the mass shooting in may.
Brett: I don't think that
they've handled it at all.
I think they just keep trying to
put band-aids on a gunshot
wound.
Amna: Reminders of that day, and
the trauma left in its wake are
everywhere.
But today, the children of
uvalde returned to class and
their new sense of normal.
Joining me now is Tony plohetski
, investigative reporter for the
Austin american-statesman who
has covered the massacre and its
fallout since that tragic day.
Welcome back.
Thank you for always joining us.
First day back in school for
these kids who survived the
unimaginable three months ago.
Safety has to be top of mind.
What do we know about what the
school district has done and has
not yet done to make sure kids
and parents feel safe back in
schools?
Tony: Keep in mind that for most
Texas schools is started several
weeks ago in mid August.
Uvalde officials intentionally
delayed school in that community
to give them a chance to install
safety measures they've been
talking about after this
happened, including cameras,
fencing around schools, and
locks on doors we've seen
officials in social media videos
give us a demonstration, but
unfortunately, many of the
measures they were putting in
place were not in place when
school started today for a
variety of reasons.
That only intensified among
parents the sense of unease and
anxiety as they sent kids back
to school today.
Amna: Do we know why some of the
measures weren't in place?
Our calling here was in touch
with one of the parents, a woman
who has a third grader at uvalde
elementary, and she said she was
baffled, they've had all of
these things -- all of this time
to put these things in the place
and I don't know why they
haven't.
Do we know why?
Tony: It is disappointing and we
are still investigating some of
the reasons, why some of the
promises about security have not
been fulfilled.
At this point, with the
superintendent's office and
school district have said is
they were hampered by supply
chain issues and not able to get
some of the goods and materials
they needed to shore up some of
the campuses.
We also know -- and this is an
important note as well -- me
than three dozen Texas
department of safety troopers
have been on the ground in
uvalde today helping control --
helping patrol some of the
campuses.
Amna: The district also making
available a virtual learning
option for students who don't
feel safe going back into
classrooms.
Have you spoken to families
taking advantage of that?
Tony: Some families tell us this
was an option they chose to
pursue.
The district confirmed that
about 150 students have enrolled
virtually, but it is also
important to note that this is a
community of largely
working-class families, and so
what many parents have said is
that they simply did not have
the option of enrolling their
children in virtual learning and
so they had to face this dilemma
of sending their children back
to school.
We also know that some families
as a matter of fact have
enrolled their kids in other
schools and districts as well as
private schools in the area.
Amna: We just saw how much anger
and frustration is still on the
ground, recall the townhome --
townhome meeting where anger
boiled over.
All of that frustration and
anger, hasn't it led to
accountability on the ground?
Tony: There are dictations it is
leading to accountability on the
ground.
Keep in mind that last month,
school district, after three
months, fired the school
district police chief, said to
be the incident commander that
day, and just this evening, we
are able to report that the
Texas department of public
safety has confirmed five of its
employees were on the ground
that they have been referred to
the state's inspector general's
office for possible disciplinary
action and possible termination.
We are still learning what
policy violations they may have
broken that day but there is
some movement toward
accountability and that is
something many people in that
community have been demanding
for some time.
Amna: Finally, we know your
colleagues at the statesmen have
joined with other Texas
newsrooms, suing the uvalde
officials for refusing to give
you access to a number of
records.
What are you seeking out what
questions do you hope to answer?
Tony: This is a broad coalition
of media outlets in Texas and
beyond, and given the amount of
discrepancies from what
authorities said in the first
weeks after the shooting, aced
on what we know now, we believe
the only way for the public to
have a true and accurate picture
of what happened that horrible
day is for all of the
information to be made public.
There has been something of an
erratic release of information,
including body camera video, the
hallway footage from that day,
but again, he are appealing to
the state officials to release
the entire body of information
so that everyone, not only in
Texas but across the nation, can
have a full and broad
understanding of the law
enforcement response that day.
Amna: No one deserves those
answers more than the families
on the ground.
Tony from the Austin American
statesman joining us today as
kids in uvalde go back to
school.
Thank you, always great to see
you.
Tony: Thank you, you two.
-- You too.