Uvalde students return to school for the first time since mass shooting
Families in Uvalde, Texas, sent their children back to school on Tuesday for the first time since a gunman stormed the local elementary school in May, killing 19 children and two teachers. Robb Elementary, the site of the massacre, has been permanently closed — but despite ramped-up security at a new location, some parents and kids say they still don't feel safe.
Current third and fourth grade students who had attended Robb Elementary last year are now at Uvalde Elementary School. Former Robb Elementary fourth grade students – who are now in fifth grade – are now attending Flores Middle School.
CBS News also learned that many former Robb Elementary students received vouchers to attend private schools. One of those schools, Sacred Heart Catholic School, saw its enrollment double this year.
Meanwhile, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District has put in new fencing and security cameras at Uvalde Elementary, and has added additional police officers and therapists to help families feel safer. For some, that's been enough to allow their children to return to school in person.
"I understand about the safety — but me as a parent, from what I saw today, I feel pretty secure," one parent said.
Many, though, remain anxious, and are unwilling to send their kids back to school after one of the deadliest school shootings in the nation's history. Multiple investigations are underway into how the gunman was able to spend over an hour in the school before he was fatally shot by law enforcement.
"My girls are homebound," said parent Monica Gallegos. "They'll be homebound for the rest of the year."
Gallegos and Donny Ray Valdez's daughters are among the more than 130 students doing remote learning this semester.
"It's not safe to go back," Gallegos told CBS News.
Angeli Rodriguez lost her twin sister Annabelle in the shooting. Their mother, Gallegos, said Annabelle was Angeli's support system.
"It's hard that she's going to have to enter the following grades without her sister," Gallegos said.
On Tuesday, parents of Robb Elementary children who survived the shooting dropped their kids off at Uvalde Elementary. When they arrived, the fence wasn't completed.