Following the newly released surveillance video from the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, 3 News sat down with one school district leader to discuss school security.
The shooting on May 24 resulted in the deaths of 19 children and two teachers.
The video obtained by our sister station in Austin gives a better picture of what happened and why it took so long for help.
Since that day, an intense investigation has ensued with many criticizing the response of law enforcement.
They're also questioning what might have happened had they entered the building sooner.
The video highlights the 70 minutes that go by before officers finally go in and take out the shooter.
Tuesday night, 3NEWS spoke with Steve VanMatre to view portions of the video and to get his raw reaction to it.
"Tragic to hear gunfire in a classroom where a classroom has so much joy and entertainment teaching and learning," VanMatre said.
Part of the newly released video shows officers on scene, along with body cam footage. It shows a half-dozen officers in the hallway, at least one with a riffle.
They are met with gunfire and retreat further down the hallway where they'll remain for the next 45 minutes.
More manpower and equipment arrived; but it's 70 minutes total before officers move in.
"I'm stunned with the image this video has and it makes me do everything humanly possible to keep that from happening at Tuloso-Midway or any other school," VanMatre said.
As a superintendent VanMatre oversees 3,800 children in Tuloso-Midway. As a father and grandfather, he said that he can't imagine what parents of the victims from Uvalde are going through as they also look at the images.
"It really bothers me those family members will have to relive this, which they probably do everyday of their lives," said VanMatre.
"Our parents trust us," VanMatre said. "They send us their most precious possessions, which is their children. They depend on us to keep them safe. That has to be the best thing we do, greater than teaching and learning is to be up to date on best practices safety and security."
VanMatre added that It's those improvements that he said are crucial as students and faculty return to the classroom.
"Its unbelievable, the time I usually devote to training and student performance and getting ready for the activities of school now is dominated and rightfully so by how do we make our schools safer," VanMatre said.
He said schools should ensure that all exterior doors are locked and secure. The district has a scheduled safety and security audit this September, but it doesn't stop there.
"We are looking at raising our police officers who work on our campus, their hourly pay so there is not one day that goes by that we don't have a police officer at every one of our campuses," VanMatre said.
VanMatre says they are also looking at hiring a school resource officer which would be the beginning of a T-M school police force.
Long term he said the district is looking at a bond package in November tied to school security.
It includes bullet proof glass, and security check-ins so visitors can not just walk through the door, but will have to be buzzed in.
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