UPDATE, 4/4/23 Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, Speaker Cameron Sexton, and legislative leadership announced yes
UPDATE, 4/4/23
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, Speaker Cameron Sexton, and legislative leadership announced yesterday more specifics regarding additional actions they are pushing to strengthen safety at public and private schools across Tennessee. These measures include enhanced legislation and funding to place an armed security guard at every Tennessee public school, boost physical school security at public and private schools, and provide additional mental health resources for Tennesseans.
“There is nothing more important than our students safely returning home each day,” said Gov. Lee. “As Tennessee grieves the tragic loss of six precious lives in the Covenant shooting, we are taking additional actions to significantly boost safety measures at every school with highly-trained guards, physical security enhancements and mental health resources. I thank Lieutenant Governor McNally, Speaker Sexton and members of the General Assembly for their partnership as we pursue thoughtful, practical solutions to protect Tennessee students and teachers.”
The Governor’s amended legislation and budget proposal will include the following measures:
* Enacts a multi-tiered accountability plan to ensure exterior school doors are locked while students are present, with opportunities for corrective action. State and local law enforcement will be authorized to check for unlocked doors
* Requires that private security guards are held to a high standard and receive active shooter training prior to being posted at Tennessee schools
* Requires every school district to establish threat assessment teams, a nationally recognized best practice to ensure students are connected to support services and behavioral health professionals, when appropriate
* Requires every public and private school to develop annual safety plans, which must include a newly required incident command drill for school leaders and law enforcement to prepare for what to expect in various emergencies
To fund these efforts, Governor Lee is making the following amendments to his budget:
* $30 million to expand a statewide homeland security network with 122 agents serving students at both public and private schools
* $140 million to establish a School Resource Officer (SRO) grant fund to place a trained, armed security guard at every public school
* $20 million for public school security upgrades
* $7 million for private school security upgrades
* $8 million for additional school-based behavioral health liaisons across the state
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee said he intends to expand a school safety measure to include the placement of school resource officers at every school in the state. The governor’s plan comes after a 28-year-old woman, identifying as transgender, opened fire in the Covenant School in Nashville killing six people, including three children.
Under this proposal, which would have to be approved by the state legislature, private schools would be required to hire guards with the same level of training as public school requirements. However, private schools will not be forced to take advantage of the program.
The governor’s initial budget proposal this year included $20 million for school building security upgrades. He also plans to propose expanding this fund with additional money.
It is not yet clear how this proposal will impact school systems, like Bradley County and Cleveland City, which already utilize school resource officers, and how they will be allowed to use the additional funding being proposed.
