Thousands more emails related to the 2022 school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, are to be released after a lawyer said a mistake had been made in withholding them.
The error was admitted at an emotional school board meeting Monday night, where elected officials and audience members alike demanded answers following CNN’s exclusive reporting that documents had not been published despite a court order, including some that discussed classroom security.
Robb D. Decker of Walsh Gallegos said his firm did not realize there was a problem until complaints were made.
“We, our firm, went back and re-looked at the data that we had received from the district from the beginning and realized that they were correct and that we were wrong. We had not released all of the responsive information. That was an error in our side,” he said.
The board of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) had voted weeks ago to release the public records it held that related to the May 24, 2022, massacre that killed 19 fourth graders and two of their teachers. It was the worst school shooting in a decade and saw hundreds of law enforcement officers wait outside the classrooms for more than an hour while dead, dying and traumatized victims were left with the gunman.
Board members, some of them in tears, apologized and stressed they played no part in the records not being released and appeared angry at their lawyers.
“We want to make sure that we do not have any more errors. I appreciate the people that did speak up to show us that there was errors,” said school board trustee Jaclyn Gonzales. “There’s no way for us to know that — it’s the public that recognized it, and that’s what is helping us call this error out. But we absolutely want to be transparent. We know what it means to the families,” she added, speaking to a surviving teacher who called 911, as well as the grandfather of one of the little girls killed.
She said about 26,000 pages, made up of about 8,600 emails, would be published.
“Not one of us on the board had anything to do with this,” said Jesse Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old victim Jackie Cazares.
He called for new legal counsel to be hired. “When we use the word ‘error,’ that’s putting it very lightly,” he said. “The word ‘negligent’ comes to mind.”
He also addressed the audience, some of whom had called him and his fellow board members liars for their pledge of transparency.
“My heart’s all in it. I didn’t lie to anybody,” he said. “I didn’t lie to my brother, didn’t lie to family members. We all thought we were doing right.”
In a particularly emotionally moment, Rizo apologized directly to Amy Franco, the teacher from Robb Elementary who called for help and was at the meeting, and to his own family. “I’m sorry, Amy,” he said. “Brother, I’m sorry,” his voice quivering as he choked up, apparently unable to say more.
Minutes later, Rizo, proposed a motion to authorize the superintendent and council to release all documents related to the shooting at Robb Elementary, including attorney-client privileged information, with the only exception being safety plans. The motion was passed unanimously.
CNN’s reporting last week showed some of the unreleased communications between officials covered classroom security and discussions about a payout to the sacked police chief.
The material that was released — much of it covering events and issues that CNN had already reported independently — followed a court ruling upheld after an appeal that the public had a right to know.
CNN is part of a coalition of media organizations that sued for the records, and whose lawyers complained that there were glaring omissions.
The coalition’s legal team sent the school district a letter noting that emails were requested and produced from various UCISD officials. But while 3,700 pages of emails to and from former deputy superintendent Michael Rodriguez were released, there were only 113 pages related to district spokesperson Anne Marie Espinoza and only 219 pages of emails to or from the then-school superintendent, Hal Harrell.
“It is simply inconceivable that UCISD’s production represents the totality of correspondence to and from the District’s spokesperson and superintendent in the wake of the deadliest school shooting in Texas history,” the letter wrote, adding that emails known to have been sent by news organizations were not included.
“These omissions clearly demonstrate that UCISD has not produced all responsive email correspondence.”
Monday’s board meeting was a significant night in Uvalde for families who have had very few wins.
But there are still holes for some. Decker, the attorney, said the hallway surveillance camera footage could not be released by the school district, because it had been taken in the days immediately following the massacre by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which was now refusing to return it.
“They are still currently in litigation about an open records request, and they have advised us that they are not going to release that information back to the district,” Decker said.
CNN’s Leigh Waldman contributed to this story.
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