UVALDE, Texas — Uvalde CISD students return to school Tuesday after the school year was delayed by more than a month as school officials worked to make security changes and upgrades in the wake of the Robb Elementary school massacre.
The entire summer, families demanded change in gun reform and accountability. That led to the resignation of the school police chief Pete Arredondo.
Robb Elementary is no more. Instead, students will be slipt between two other schools as they try to return to some kind of sense of normalcy.
The first day of school for many of these Uvalde students will not be easy. Some of them will be going back to class without their best friends and teachers.
"Very anxious and scared," said Nikki Cross who lost Uziyah Garcia.
The last day of school for the students at Robb Elementary ended in gunfire, traumatizing them.
Throughout the summer, Uvalde CISD worked with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas School Safety Center to conduct a safety and security audit for the district. Among the changes made this year are non-scalable perimeter fencing, new cameras and a single entrance passageway.
They’ll even have troopers patrolling the schools from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
But for those families who lost a loved one on that terrible day, it just doesn’t feel like enough.
"It's not going to make the people feel safe. They can hire 10 cops and 15 cops it's not going to make a difference. People do not feel safe in Uvalde," said Vincent Salazar, the grandfather of Laila Salazar, who was one of the victims that died in the shooting.
Parents had until last week to enroll their kids in person or virtual learning. A tough decision many were grappling with.
It’s unclear how many have signed up to be in person.