Robb Elementary College principal Mandy Gutierrez is pushing again on a number of claims made in a latest report from Texas lawmakers that was extremely essential of each legislation enforcement and the Uvalde faculty district administration's response to the taking pictures that killed 19 college students and two academics. Gutierrez was positioned on administrative depart with pay this week.
In a letter written to the committee that's investigating the taking pictures, Gutierrez denied that the door lock for classroom 111, one of many rooms the place the taking pictures befell, was defective and that no steps had been taken to repair it, because the report on the taking pictures alleged.
"Particularly, workers and college students extensively knew the door to one of many victimized school rooms, Room 111, was ordinarily unsecured and accessible," the report mentioned. "Room 111 could possibly be locked, however an additional effort was required to verify the latch engaged. Many knew Room 111's door had a defective lock, and faculty district police had particularly warned the instructor about it. The issue with locking the door had been reported to highschool administration, but nobody positioned a written work order for a restore."
However Gutierrez claimed in her letter that the lock was functioning correctly the morning of the taking pictures, saying that a custodian ensures all classroom doorways are locked each night time and, subsequently, the one approach for the instructor in room 111 to have gotten within the subsequent morning would have been to unlock it.
Gutierrez additionally wrote that the instructor in that classroom — who was severely wounded within the taking pictures, in response to Gutierrez —had complained on a number of events that their day was interrupted as a result of they must let different academics into the room to retrieve objects from a printer that a number of school rooms shared however was bodily stored in room 111.
Gutierrez acknowledges that the shooter gained entry to room 111 however mentioned it will be "inaccurate to conclude that it was as a result of the door to classroom 111 didn't lock."
"The instructor accountable for Room 111 appears to recall that he complained in regards to the door not locking to me for the final 3 years," Gutierrez wrote. "Once more, making an allowance for his horrific ordeal, I level out that I'm in my first 12 months as Principal, and my predecessor has no recollection or file of these complaints."
Gutierrez's letter additionally addresses the Raptor utility the varsity utilized in emergency conditions, which the report claimed didn't work correctly on the day of the taking pictures resulting from a weak wi-fi sign. After the Raptor alert appeared to fail, the report famous that Gutierrez "didn't try to speak the lockdown alert over the varsity's intercom," and as a substitute known as Uvalde faculties police chief Pete Arredondo, who has additionally been positioned on depart, by telephone.
Gutierrez wrote that she was explicitly skilled to not use the general public handle system in these conditions. "Our coaching emphasised that utilizing the Public Handle System may compound the issue in making a panic state of affairs with college students and an alert to the a number of gunman that was current to do most hurt," she mentioned.
Gutierrez additionally addressed the report's declare that a collection of lockdowns prompted by "bailouts," a time period used to explain when undocumented immigrants flee a automobile after a crash throughout a pursuit with legislation enforcement, had created a tradition of complacency whereby faculty workers stopped taking the lockdowns critically.
Gutierrez mentioned that she "wholeheartedly" denies the declare, and famous that she acquired an "achieved" ranking on her efficiency assessment, which particularly famous that she "creates a secure setting" on the faculty.