Future of Uvalde School Unclear As Students Won't Return After Shooting

The future of a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school is currently unclear as officials recently announced that students and staff will not be returning following the mass shooting that left 21 victims, including 19 children and two teachers, dead.

During a press conference on Thursday, Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Hal Harrell was asked about plans to return to the Robb Elementary School, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos fatally shot 19 students and two teachers.

"Robb Elementary, we will not be going back to that campus in any form or fashion. There will be no school personnel on that campus as we move forward," Harrell said. "As far as the future of that site, there are discussions about what that will look like, as we move forward as a community, we'll have some community input to determine what that looks like for our community."

The remarks by Harrell come shortly after officials in Uvalde previously said that students would not be returning to the campus, while others in the town called for the school to be destroyed.

"Students and staff will not be returning to the Robb Elementary campus. We are working through plans on how to serve students on other campuses and will provide that information as soon as it is finalized. We are also working with agencies to help us identify improvements on all UCISD campuses," the school district said in a previous statement.

According to CNN, during a board meeting earlier this month, Harrell made similar comments, saying "Our kids, our staff, we're not going back."

In the days after the school shooting incident, which was the deadliest since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin told KENS5 news in Texas that Robb Elementary School should be destroyed.

"I don't think anybody's plans are but to tear that building down," McLaughlin said. "It needs to be torn down. I would never ask, expect, a child to have to walk through those doors ever, ever again. That building needs to be gone. Taken away. Gone."

During the press conference on Thursday, Harrell explained that Uvalde students in pre-k through second grade will be moved to the Dalton Elementary School, while students in grades three through sixth, which includes students from Robb Elementary School, will be moved to the Flores Elementary School. Harrell also noted that counseling services are currently available for all students and staff members of the school district.

The school shooting incident in Uvalde has prompted an array of discussions on gun safety and new legislation that could help to curb similar incidents in the future. On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting Our Kids Act, which raised the age to purchase an assault-style rifle from 18 to 21. The passage of the act came shortly after parents of children killed in Uvalde testified before a House committee on Wednesday afternoon.