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Robb Elementary School Principal Mandy Gutierrez, who was suspended Monday after a Texas House committee released a report into the shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead in May, will return to work after she defended herself in a letter to the committee.
“Thank you for responding to our request for information by submitting your response to the House Investigation Report. As a result of our review, you will be allowed to return to work on this date (July 28 2022),” Uvalde CISD Superintendent Hal. Harrell wrote in a letter to Gutierrez obtained by Fox News Digital.
A Texas House committee partially blamed a “culture of noncompliance” at the school in a report earlier this month, saying “school administrators and school district police … were aware of these unsafe practices and did not treat them as serious violations requiring immediate correction.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with Mandy Gutierrez, principal of Robb Elementary School, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest US school shooting in nearly a decade, during the US President Joe Biden’s visit to the school in Uvalde, Texas. USA May 29, 2022. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Gutierrez denied those claims in a letter to the committee Wednesday, writing that it is “unfair and inaccurate to conclude that he never [became] accommodating with any safety concerns at Robb Elementary.”
FAMILIES OF UVALDE VICTIMS TO MEET WITH STATE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING POLICE RESPONSE TO SCHOOL SHOOTING
“I will live with the horror of these events for the rest of my life,” he wrote in the letter.
“I want to keep my job not only so that I can support my family, but so that I can continue to be on the front lines helping the children who survived, the families of all those affected and the entire Uvalde community that I love and want to continue to protect” .
Law enforcement personnel light a candle outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Gutiérrez’s attorney, Ricardo Cedillo, said Thursday that she will immediately begin working again in her role as director.
“Ms. Gutiérrez’s paid administrative leave has been lifted and she has been fully reinstated to her position, where she will continue to perform her duties and continue to serve all families at UCISD,” said her attorney, Ricardo Cedillo , on Fox News. Digital Thursday
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Two Uvalde police officials, Uvalde School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo and acting Uvalde Police Chief Lt. Mariano Pargas, have been suspended following the shooting.
Paul Best is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Paul.best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.