AUSTIN, Texas — As a new school year starts, so will random security checks of Texas classrooms. Gov. Greg Abbott announced the security audits earlier this summer in response to the mass shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The Texas School Safety Center will conduct the checks, and will test whether intruders can gain access to schools. Each school district in the state will have at least one campus audited.

Schools will know what month their audit is taking place, but not what day. The tests will not mimic a real armed intruder emergency, and the auditors will identify themselves if asked by staff. Schools will then get the results and be asked to fix any problems. 

“If we didn’t think physical modifications to our workplace or our schools worked, then we wouldn’t have 20-foot walls and barbed wire around prisons,” said Matt Talbot, a threat assessment expert and founder of Triple Threat Assessment. “We don’t want our schools to become that, but we do know there is some benefit to physical security.” 

Talbot says that physical security is just part of the keeping schools safe. Schools also need the resources to help students who are struggling, so that violence stops before it starts. 

“It’s most effective when we use it in conjunction with a more preventative model,” said Talbot. “We want to make sure that we have resources and interventions in place to [help] someone who is struggling.”