No teacher raises. A failed school voucher push. Armed guards. Hereโs what changed for public education this legislative session.
Lawmakers sacrificed school funding to block school vouchers, but the issue could be debated again in a special session. Districts will get new funds for school safety, though Uvalde families were ultimately left disappointed with inaction on gun restrictions.
โSomber dayโ in Uvalde as community commemorates one year since Robb Elementary shooting
Numerous vigils and memorials were planned in Uvalde to mark one year since the Robb Elementary School shooting. In what became the deadliest school shooting in Texas, a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers and injured 17 others.
Texas House passes ban on devices that modify handguns, but averts vote on increasing age to buy semi-automatic rifles
A Texas lawmaker introduced an amendment that would have revived a proposal to raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 before it was ultimately withdrawn.
Texas House votes to require panic buttons in every classroom and armed guards in every school
Lawmakers have said school safety is a priority this session, but it is still unclear whether theyโll listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.
In overnight testimony, Uvalde victimsโ family members call on Texas lawmakers to raise age to buy semi-automatic guns
The families of Uvalde shooting victims waited hours to testify at a House committee hearing in support of House Bill 2744, which would raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.
โHe has a battle rifleโ: Police feared Uvalde gunmanโs AR-15
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooterโs military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour.
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelanโs new priority bills focus on school safety, requiring districts to adopt active-shooter plans
More than nine months after the Uvalde school shooting, top GOP lawmakers maintain focus on school safety reforms and investments in mental health resources in hopes it will prevent future tragedies.
Biden rule reclassifying some pistols as short-barreled rifles draws Texas lawsuit
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives amended a rule that classifies guns with โstabilized bracesโ as rifles, which are subject to different regulations, triggering the objection of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gun Owners of America.
Uvalde DA gets initial state police report on school shooting but doesnโt expect full investigation for months
The preliminary report has not been made public by either the district attorneyโs office or the state. The Texas Rangers are conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting at Robb Elementary.
Broken hearts lead to broken traditions in Uvalde as Mata family celebrates first holidays without Tess
The Matas never celebrated Day of the Dead before; this year they built an altar at the grave of 10-year-old Tess, surrounded by family. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, they broke their traditions.
โIโm so scaredโ: 911 recordings reveal fear and urgency of those trapped in Uvalde elementary school
Audio obtained by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica shows just how long police and dispatchers likely knew that children and teachers were in danger before taking action at Robb Elementary School.
Texas may delay trial for alleged Walmart shooter if federal prosecutors want to seek death penalty
A state district judge in El Paso said Tuesday that heโll wait to see what federal prosecutors decide in their case before moving ahead with a state trial for the man accused of killing 23 shoppers in 2019.
Chaos surrounding rookie El Paso DA Yvonne Rosales fuels concerns about Walmart massacre prosecution
Mistakes and backbiting have engulfed the El Paso County district attorneyโs office. Some question whether she is competent to handle one of the most high-profile death penalty cases in recent Texas history.
Uvalde school district suspends its entire police department, and superintendent announces retirement plans
All of the departmentโs activities were suspended for an unspecified period of time, and two employees were placed on administrative leave after it was revealed this week that one of the first state troopers to respond to the deadly school shooting in May was later hired as a district police officer.
Five Department of Public Safety officers face a formal investigation over Uvalde shooting response
Hundreds of law enforcement officers from several local, state and federal agencies have been heavily criticized for the delayed response in confronting the gunman during the worst school shooting in Texas history.
Families of the Uvalde shooting victims denounce Gov. Greg Abbottโs inaction on gun reform
The governor has made a vocal enemy in the families of Robb Elementary shooting victims. They are demanding a special legislative session to reach a compromise on the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic rifles.
Parents of Sandy Hook shooting victim call for accountability in Alex Jonesโ defamation trial
The parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis are suing Jones for falsely claiming that the 2012 mass school shooting was a hoax meant to take away Americansโ guns. The trial is the first of three to determine monetary penalties against the Texas-based conspiracy theorist for his lies about the tragedy.
Alex Jonesโ company files for bankruptcy midway through Sandy Hook damages trial
Free Speech Systems submitted the filing during a two-week trial to determine how much the Texas-based conspiracy theorist will award the parents of a victim in the 2012 school shooting, prompting speculation about the companyโs effort to avoid bankruptcy oversight as a small business.
Texas House publishes report of Uvalde school shooting investigation in Spanish
The House committee investigating the Uvalde school shooting said it intended to publish the report in both languages but was unable to get it translated before a meeting last Sunday when the English version was released.
Texas Department of Public Safety investigating how 91 of its troopers and Rangers responded to Uvalde school shooting
The departmentโs officers made up nearly one-fourth of the 376 law enforcement members who responded to Texasโ deadliest school shooting. Announcement of the inquiry came one day after a report criticized police response to the massacre.
At their first conference after the Uvalde shooting, school counselors grapple with supporting students in an age of mass violence
One session on school shootings at the American School Counselor Associationโs annual conference in Austin this week drew a large crowd. It discussed the roles counselors play before and after such traumatic events.
Texas safety officials will begin โrandom intruder detection auditsโ of schools in September
Texas School Safety Center officials said they will alert districts and local law enforcement of the audits, where trained staff will try to find access points into school buildings. But school campuses will not be informed ahead of time.
Sister of Uvalde shooting victim testifies before Texas lawmakers: โIโm terrified to go backโ to school
Jazmin Cazares, 17, was one of several family members of shooting victims and experts testifying before Texas lawmakers on Thursday. Her sister, Jackie Cazares, 9, was one of the victims of the school shooting in Uvalde.
Uvalde schools police chief placed on leave amid fierce criticism of school shooting response
The move comes weeks after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary. Uvalde CISD police Chief Pete Arredondo, one of the first to respond, and state officials have provided differing stories about what happened inside the school.
Hereโs how Pete Arredondo and other law enforcement differ on what happened during the Uvalde shooting
New information released by law enforcement sources and the director of the Department of Public Safety tells a different story about police response to the shooting than Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
The last hearse travels the final mile: Layla Salazarโs burial ends Uvalde funerals for shooting victims
The unremitting pace of ritualized mourning ended Thursday as the town buried an 11-year-old victim of the Robb Elementary shooting. Survivors now face less structured grief, starting each day knowing they will live it out differently than they should have.
Almost 100 Texas school districts have added their own police departments since 2017, but not everyone feels safer
Officials have called for more armed officers on campuses in the wake of the Uvalde shooting. Experts and some parents, though, say more law enforcement on campus doesnโt necessarily make schools safer.
Waiting for keys, unable to break down doors: Uvalde schools police chief defends delay in confronting gunman
Criticized by law enforcement experts for slowness in taking out the shooter, Pete Arredondo described an agonizing wait for a key that would work. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, he said he hadnโt spoken out sooner because he didnโt want to compound his hometownโs grief or point blame.
Federal investigation into law enforcementโs response to Uvalde shooting wonโt be criminal, DOJ says
Authorities have been criticized for waiting over an hour to enter the school and confront the shooter. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said law enforcement agencies have promised to cooperate with the federal inquiry.
Texas politicians search for solutions after another mass shooting. Experts say weโve already found them.
In arguing over causes of the latest mass shooting, political debate often overlooks the range of incremental steps that could lessen the chances of mass killing and help address the nationโs persistent gun violence.
Some Texas GOP donors urge Congress to act on gun control measures like โred flagโ laws, expanded background checks
More than 250 self-declared gun enthusiasts, including donors who have contributed to Gov. Greg Abbottโs campaigns, have signed on to an open letter supporting Sen. John Cornynโs efforts at bipartisan gun reform legislation.
Police chief who led the response to the school shooting in Uvalde had no radio at the scene, reports say
The revelation is the latest to point to deficiencies and missteps in authoritiesโ response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School. Police opted to wait for reinforcements and tactical gear, taking more than an hour to confront and take down the shooter.
A corrido is written for the lost โAngels of Uvaldeโ as Latino artists begin crafting tributes
Through music and painting, artists have begun works to preserve the lives lost in the Robb Elementary School shooting. โWe want them to be monumental,โ one artist said. โBecause those lives shouldโve been monumental.โ
In battered Uvalde, where a police chief is in hiding, grief gives way to calls for accountability
As chief of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, it was Arredondoโs call to wait more than an hour for backup instead of ordering officers on scene to immediately charge the shooter.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, says itโs a โslap in the faceโ to be left off committee responding to shooting
Gutierrez, a Democrat who has been critical of the stateโs response to past shootings, said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also snubbed state senators whose districts were affected by shootings in El Paso and Santa Fe.
Uvalde school districtโs police chief didnโt know about 911 calls coming from inside the school, lawmaker says
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, said the commanding officer at the scene of the shooting was not informed about the calls that Uvalde police were receiving, calling the lack of coordination a โsystem failure.โ
Gov. Greg Abbott instructs school safety officials to conduct โunannounced, random intruderโ audits of Texas public schools
Abbott has tasked the Texas School Safety Center with conducting in-person, unannounced audits of public schools to see how quickly staff can enter a building without being stopped and detect weak points.
Gun ownership is ingrained in Uvaldeโs culture. Some here are rethinking how it should be regulated.
Longtime Uvalde residents say the city is a hunting mecca and the love for guns goes right along with it. But some would now support measures like raising the age limit to buy AR-style weapons or monitoring high-volume ammunition purchases.
A gun and a prayer: How the far right took control of Texasโ response to mass shootings
The โGod-given rightโ to self-defense has become a rallying cry in Texas politics, further cementing gun ownership as a holy cause and political identity. The stateโs Republican leadership has spent decades carrying the banner.
Trump and Cruz propose โhardenedโ one-door schoolhouses. Experts say thatโs not a credible solution.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans argue that gunmen can be stopped by locking all but one door and posting guards at schools. School officials and safety experts say thatโs not realistic.
Watch: Grief shattered Uvalde; it has united it, too
Uvalde is grieving the loss of 19 students and two teachers after Tuesdayโs devastating shooting at a local elementary school. In this video, residents say their town will never be the same, but they will help each other through the healing process.