Texas (KXAN) — The Texas School Safety Center released findings from audits on school campus safety during the 2022-23 school year. The findings revealed that most campuses did not need corrective action.
The report is a compilation of information gathered during school inspections where security experts showed up unannounced at schools to conduct random, in-person intruder audits at campuses across the state.
The audits began in September and were conducted through May. They were a direct response to the May 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde.
Typically, these audits are due every three years. Campuses originally had until September 2023 to get them submitted to their districts, but Gov. Abbott in June of last year directed the Texas School Safety Center, or TxSSC, to immediately review safety policies after the Uvalde school shooting.
Key findings highlighted in the audit:
100% of eligible districts and 83.5% of campuses (7,200) were audited between September 2022 and May 2023
75.5% of audited campuses did not have any corrective actions
24.5% of audited campuses received corrective actions. Of the campuses with corrective actions, 89.3% of corrective actions have been verified as addressed. 10.7% are in the process of being verified.
Inspectors at 95.6% of campuses did not gain unauthorized access to the campus.
TxSSC, with coordination from the Texas Education Agency, or TEA, and the Education Service Centers, or ESCs, started the audits in September to “detect vulnerable access points and identify possible areas of improvement in security procedures in school campuses across Texas,” the report stated.
TxSSC had goals of conducting inspections across 100% of eligible school districts and 75% of campuses across the state by the end of the school year, according to the report. By June 2023, the goals were met.