San Antonio Standard

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) announced on Monday that classes will be cancelled and campuses and facilities closed from May 23 to 25 in observance of the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, per a report from San Antonio CBS affiliate KENS.

An 18-year-old gunman fatally shot 19 students and two teachers last May 24, plunging the South Texas city of nearly 16,000 people some 80 miles west of San Antonio into unenviable heartache and mourning.

KENS reported that UCISD interim Superintendent Gary Patterson notified the district of the closures in a memo.

Uvalde’s school board approved the changes during a meeting in February, the station reported.

“[We] have profound respect for the one-year mark and a focus on the safety of our students and staff,” Patterson, who took the helm after the departure of Dr. Hal Harrell late last year, said in the correspondence, per KENS.

High school commencement exercises for the South Texas public school district are slated for May 26, the day after the anniversary-related respite, and students will be off again for Memorial Day.

June 1 is the last day of classes district wide.

The tragedy at Robb became a focal point during the gubernatorial race between Gov. Greg Abbott and his then-challenger, Beto O’Rourke.

Abbott, keeping in line with his party mates in the GOP, called for deeper fortification of schools and more emphasis on mental health while O’Rourke, a Democrat, pushed for stricter gun laws.

UCISD police had been the subject of ire and scrutiny after it was revealed that officers who were summoned to Robb waited an hour before receiving orders to confront the shooter, Austin Journal reported.

According to the publication, Pete Arrendondo, the police force’s chief at the time of the shooting, was terminated in August.