Gov. Abbott orders review of school safety in Texas, includes random unannounced intruder checks

AUSTIN, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday ordered a review of school safety in Texas. Abbott directed the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) to provide a progress report to his office and the Texas Legislature by October 1.

Abbott said the TxSSC must conduct comprehensive school safety reviews to confirm all Texas public schools are following state law on active threat plans.

The TxSSC must confirm control procedures with all public schools, such as single access points, locked classroom doors, visitor check-in procedures and exterior door locks. In addition to making sure all schools have procedures consistent with state standards, TxSSC must also do random inspections.

“Your team should begin conducting in-person, unannounced, random intruder detection audits on school districts,” Abbott wrote. “Also, the TxSSC should immediately begin working with my office and the Legislature on recommendations to improve current security systems and determine the funding necessary to continue the work of hardening our schools against outside threats.”

Click here to read the full letter from Abbott to the TxSSC.

FILE – Flowers and candles are placed around crosses at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School to honor the victims killed in this week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas Saturday, May 28, 2022. The gunmen in two of the nation’s most recent mass shootings, including last week’s massacre at the Texas elementary school, legally bought the assault weapons they used after they turned 18. That’s prompting Congress and policymakers in even the reddest of states to revisit whether to raise the age limit to purchase such weapons. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, right, looks on as the caskets of for Irma Garcia and husband Joe Garcia at Sacred Heart Catholic Church for a joint funeral service, Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Irma Garcia was killed in last week’s elementary school shooting; Joe Garcia died two days later. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Pallbearers carry the casket of Amerie Jo Garza following funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Tuesday, May 31, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Garza was killed in last week’s elementary school shooting, (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a news conference, Friday, May 27, 2022, about the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit a memorial at Robb Elementary School to pay their respects to the victims of the mass shooting, Sunday, May 29, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School to honor the victims killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas Sunday, May 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
FILE – Flowers are placed around a welcome sign outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, to honor the victims killed in a shooting at the school a day earlier. In the aftermath of the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, schools around the U.S. have brought in additional security staff and restricted visitors as they’ve dealt with a new rash of copycat threats. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke speaks to the press after he was kicked out for interrupting a news conference headed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in Uvalde, Texas Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
People visit a memorial set up in a town square to honor the victims killed in this week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas Saturday, May 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A state trooper places a tiara on a cross honoring Ellie Garcia, one of the victims killed in this week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas Saturday, May 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
FILE – A family pays their respects next to crosses bearing the names of Tuesday’s shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw speaks during a press conference held outside Robb Elementary School on Friday, May 27, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. Nearly 20 officers stood in a hallway outside of the classrooms during this week’s attack on a Texas elementary school for more than 45 minutes before agents used a master key to open a door and confront a gunman, authorities said Friday. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Crosses with the names of Tuesday’s shooting victims are placed outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Thursday, May 26, 2022. The 18-year-old man who slaughtered 19 children and two teachers in Texas left a digital trail that hinted at what was to come. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Two family members of one of the victims killed in Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School comfort each other during a prayer vigil in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, leaves flowers at a memorial site, Thursday, May 26, 2022, for the victims killed in this week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A couple prepare to place flowers on crosses with the names of children killed outside of the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas Thursday, May 26, 2022. Law enforcement authorities faced questions and criticism Thursday over how much time elapsed before they stormed the Texas elementary school classroom and put a stop to the rampage by a gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Esmeralda Bravo, 63, sheds tears while holding a photo of her granddaughter, Nevaeh, one of the Robb Elementary School shooting victims, during a prayer vigil in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The archbishop of San Antonio, Gustavo Garcia-Siller, comforts families outside of the Civic Center in Uvalde, Texas Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)