UVALDE, Texas – The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board said on Monday they are working to release several additional documents tied to the Robb Elementary shooting.
On Monday night, the board also voted unanimously to hire a new law firm, Thompson Horton, to represent the district. The board still has Walsh Gallegos, the firm that represented them during the records lawsuit, on retainer.
It’s unclear when the additional records will be released.
The first vote to release records took place in July, after a Texas appeals court ruled in favor of KSAT 12 and several other news outlets’ request for the release of school and county records from law enforcement’s response to the massacre.
The second vote happened in August after Walsh Gallegos admitted they “made an error” by not releasing all the records initially.
Nineteen children and two teachers died in the May 24, 2022 shooting.
Vincent Salazar’s granddaughter, Layla Marie Salazar, was among those killed. He spoke at the meeting during public comment, urging for the full release of records.
“I don’t know what you have to do to get the truth out of people, but if you want to move on in this town, we need the answers,” he said.
Amy Franco, a former Robb Elementary staffer, said the whole process has been “exhausting.”
“This is like never ending lies, betrayal and coverups,” she said.
What hasn’t been released
According to a letter from an attorney representing KSAT, UCISD “has not produced all emails, texts, and other correspondence” from district officials.
Far fewer communications have been produced for many of them, including former district Chief Pete Arredondo and former Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales. Both are facing charges after authorities said he failed to protect children during the shooting.
Missing items include:
- Correspondence related to Arredondo’s severance and termination
- Arredondo’s call log and phone records
- Documents relating to the then-Principal Mandy Gutierrez’s termination
- Records regarding classroom doors and locks
- UCISD police evidence logs and incident reports
- Student records regarding the gunman
There are approximately 1 million additional pages of documents that the district is planning to release, the letter states. Attorneys have requested that the documents be handed over at one time.
What has been released
UCISD has released thousands of records, including emails to and from then-Superintendent Hal Harrell, in batches.
Uvalde County also released nearly seven hours of footage and 1,576 pages of emails, text messages and other documents.
>> What we know about Uvalde CISD, county records from Robb Elementary shooting
The records were released after a state appeals court judge sided with KSAT and other media organizations in a 2022 lawsuit against Uvalde CISD and the county.
Family members of the victims were among those who pushed for the records to be released.
In separate meetings in July, UCISD and the county had voted to stop fighting the appeal and release the records.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.