Kennedale school district officials expected to have a required safety and security audit on file with the state by today, two days after Attorney General Greg Abbott criticized 78 districts statewide for not being compliant.
He said Monday that the 78 school districts either had failed to submit state-mandated safety plans in the event of a mass shooting or had filed ones that are too incomplete to be useful, The Associated Press reported.
It appears that Kennedale fell into the latter category.
The district did file an audit with the Texas School Safety Center,district spokeswoman Erin Hyden said Tuesday, but officials were notified “that some of the documentation appeared to be noncompliant.”
“We are currently working with the Texas School Safety Center to correct the information and will have the rectified audit resubmitted by [Wednesday],” she said.
Abbott’s finding came three days after Gov. Rick Perry ordered a statewide review to ensure Texas schools are prepared to handle attacks such as the one Friday in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
"There's nothing we can do to bring back the loss of life of the school children in Connecticut," Abbott said at a news conference. "There is, however, something we can do to make sure schoolchildren in Texas will not meet a similar fate."
Since Friday, Hyden said, many campuses have conducted routine lockdown drills and have held faculty meetings to encourage heightened awareness of all happenings in the schools. Campuses have increased security and have added additional personnel at school entrances.
“We take every tip and report extremely seriously,” she said. “We have extensive security measures and protocols in place that are conducted whenever a report or tip is communicated.”
-Patrick M. Walker
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