UVALDE, Texas – The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District on Tuesday released more than 45,000 pages related to the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Files released to KSAT and other media outlets include:
- Drill report logs
- Budget reports
- Records of resignations, retirements and terminations
- Personnel files
- Safety and security meeting notices and agendas
- Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) student and discipline data
- Budget and facilities reports
- Communication via emails, texts and chats
Tuesday’s release comes amid a series of delays from the district.
Since August, UCISD has released files, including thousands of pages of emails and body-worn camera footage, in batches.
In July, a state appeals court judge sided with KSAT and other media organizations in a 2022 lawsuit against the district and county seeking the release of their records related to the massacre.
Two teachers and 19 students died on May 24, 2022, after a gunman entered Robb Elementary and remained in a classroom for more than an hour before officers breached the door and killed him. Family members of the victims were among those who pushed for the records to be released.
>> Body-worn camera footage released by Uvalde County shows chaos around Robb classroom breach
While UCISD has released thousands of pages of documents, not all records have been turned over to media outlets.
In August, Walsh Gallegos — the firm that represented the district during the records lawsuit — admitted they “made an error” by not releasing all the records initially.
The UCISD board later voted unanimously to hire a new law firm, Thompson & Horton, to represent the district.
According to a September letter from an attorney representing KSAT, UCISD “has not produced all emails, texts, and other correspondence” from district officials.
In the letter, an attorney said the district intends to release roughly 1 million more pages of documents.
However, on Tuesday, UCISD stated that not all those files are related to the shooting.
“According to our counsel’s ongoing review, about 700,000 of these pages have been identified as exact duplicates, junk mail, spam, or routine daily correspondence entirely unrelated to May 24, 2022,” UCISD wrote in a Facebook post. “Thompson & Horton will continue thoroughly examining the remaining materials to ensure that all pertinent Robb Elementary records are appropriately released to the public. The District remains fully committed to transparency and providing accurate information to the community.”
Attorneys have requested that the documents be handed over at one time.
Earlier this month, UCISD filed an amicus brief supporting the release of hallway footage from the shooting.
The brief sides with news agencies, including KSAT, in the ongoing lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety on the release of records related to the massacre.
In the document, UCISD states DPS has not handed over surveillance video that the district provided following the shooting.
“DPS has refused to release that video footage to the public and recently refused to provide a copy of the footage to Uvalde CISD,” the document states. “Uvalde CISD files this amicus brief because the school district believes the video footage should be released to the public.”
The district argues that DPS has failed to present any valid legal justification for continuing to withhold the surveillance videos under the Texas Public Information Act.
What was included in the last batch
On Oct. 1, the last time UCISD released records related to the shooting, the district released termination paperwork for former district police Chief Pete Arredondo.
>> Uvalde CISD releases 2,100 files from Robb shooting, including Pete Arredondo termination paperwork
Files released to media outlets also include:
- Robb work orders and maintenance records from 2017-2022
- Communications related to the principal’s administrative leave and return
- Documents related to the Social Sentinel, StopIt and Raptor systems
- All previous Public Information Act requests related to Robb
- Additional relevant correspondence
- Two videos that were pulled and saved from the internet
Email records show then-Superintendent Hal Harrell told Arredondo on July 19, 2022, that he would recommend Arredondo’s termination to the UCISD board. At the time, Arredondo was placed on administrative leave with pay.
“You did not act to create an Incident Command Center, nor did you act as the ICC leader or Initial Incident Commander,” Harrell’s letter to Arredondo states.
“It is unknown what may have been different had you followed your training and followed the EOP to organize the situation; however, the lack of leadership in this situation leads me to no other option other than to make my recommendation to the board,” the letter states.
A letter from Arredondo’s attorney, dated July 25, 2022, defended Arredondo’s actions and said “100% of the fault” should rest on the gunman.
“There is no evidence to support a finding of good cause to justify termination in this matter. In fact, the evidence clearly and convincingly demonstrates outstanding conduct by Chief Arredondo in one of the most horrible situations anyone could imagine law enforcement to encounter, an active shooter who barricades himself in a classroom designed to keep people out, who takes and shoots children and educators hostages,” the letter states. “No blame should be placed on Chief Arredondo from this event. None of his decisions or actions demonstrate a failure to meet the accepted standards of conduct for law enforcement officers in similarly situated school districts in Texas.”
His attorneys asked for the district to pay a settlement cost of $1.1 million, legal fees and a $25,000 relocation allowance, as well as other conditions, in exchange for Arredondo’s resignation under “honorable conditions.”
Arredondo was the District 3 city councilman at the time of the shooting but resigned in July 2022. He was fired from UCISD in August 2022.
Arredondo currently faces charges of child endangerment.
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