AUSTIN, Texas — As students begin returning to their classrooms, security is once again a prominent topic of discussion not just in Texas, but across the U.S.
Recently, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) shared its findings from Intruder Detection Audits (IDAs) from 2023-2024.
The audits evaluate safety at campuses across the state in order to improve current security practices. Sectors are divided into seven regions: the Panhandle, north, east, west, central, Gulf Coast and south.
This year, 8,383 campuses in 1,200 districts were analyzed based on three particular categories: Phases 1, 2 and 3.
Phase 1 involves a random selection of at least three external doors at schools. During this phase, agencies show up unannounced to see whether they can gain access.
This year, approximately 97% of all districts did not have findings for this phase. For those who did gain access, it took roughly four minutes to do so.
The second phase takes a closer look at all exterior doors to make sure they are locked. The audit showed the majority of campuses, 90.5%, showed no exterior issues. This portion is conducted with the assistance of a campus escort.
Finally, phase three applies to schools with individual classroom door locks. Of the applicable districts, approximately 89% of doors were locked and 91% closed during random samples.
As for the Central Texas area, the audit shows approximately 85% of schools did not have any findings, while 14.7% showed some concerns with current security measures.
In total, 7,293 of the 8,382 campuses had no findings, which is roughly 9.7% less than the previous year despite a higher number of districts analyzed.
About 13% of campuses reported multiple security concerns, with most being found in Phase 2.
The IDA process was introduced to Texas law after 19 students and two adults were shot and killed in 2022 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
Since then, audit results have shown an improvement of 9.76%.