Sometime in the next few months, state auditors plan to visit a Tyler Independent School District campus to determine if it passes the test.
The auditors won’t be checking the school’s financial records during the surprise visit. Rather, they will be testing doors.
It’s an audit safety and security director Jeff Millslagle hopes the district passes with flying colors.
“Hopefully, we will not be found any findings. I don’t like finding, and neither do you,” Millslagle told board trustees during a Sept. 8 workshop.
The governor’s office, Texas Education Association and the Texas School Safety Center called for audits after the May school shooting in Uvalde, he said.
Millslagle said on or about Oct. 14, a state official is expected to notify Superintendent Marty Crawford of a 30-day window in which an auditor will attempt to enter a TISD campus building.
“We don’t know which campus. We don’t know which day,” he said.
The auditor plans to approach a campus and “rattle” three different doors attempting to gain entry.
“If they are able to make entry, they will be put on a timer to see how long it takes for employees to identify this person,” Millslagle said. “If they are unable to get in, which is what everyone is hoping for, they will be taken to the front office.”
At that time, school officials must present the auditor with prior weekly audits conducted by school officers. During the weekly audits, the officers physically check every exterior door to determine if they are unlocked, propped open or broken. Officials must address the issue immediately if any of those conditions are found.
Millslagle said if state auditors find any issues during the surprise visit, the district has 40 days to correct the issue and report back to the state auditors.
Vanessa E. Curry is a journalist with nearly 35 years of experience as a writer, editor and instructor. She earned a B.S. degree in Mass Communication from Illinois State University and a MSIS degree from The University of Texas at Tyler with emphasis on journalism, political science and criminal justice. She has worked newspaper in Marlin, Henderson, Tyler and Jacksonville, Texas as well as in Columbia Tennessee. Vanessa also was a journalism instructor at the UT-Tyler and Tennessee Tech University. Her writing has been recognized by the State Bar of Texas, Texas Associated Press Managing Editors, Dallas Press Club, and Tennessee Press Association. She currently is working on publishing two books: “Lies and Consequences: The Trials of Kerry Max Cook,” and “A Gold Medal Man, A biography of Kenneth L. “Tug” Wilson.
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