MNPD SRO Fredrico Pye
This time last year, Metro Nashville Public Schools and the Metro Nashville Police Department were collaborating to bolster the city’s school safety measures following the Uvalde school shooting in Texas. In the time since, Nashville experienced a similar tragedy when three students and three staff members were shot and killed at the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Green Hills. The tragedy reinvigorated citywide school safety conversations ahead of the district’s first day of classes on Aug. 8.
This summer the city hosted several meetings considering school safety and gun violence through the lenses of different Metro departments. Following the first meeting, the Metro Council allocated $6.5 million of city funds to school safety enhancements, including radio communications upgrades and shatter-resistant film for glass in school buildings. MNPS may receive more related funding through state grants, but must first go through an application process — a district spokesperson confirms plans to do so. The MNPD, however, will not apply for state grants to hire more school resource officers for elementary schools because the department doesn’t have the positions or the staffing levels to do so, though it is applying to receive state funds for SRO positions that already exist.
School resource officers — armed MNPD employees — have been placed in middle and high schools for years. The police department has noted its goal to put SROs in elementary schools, though MNPS has pushed back on that idea in the past. Rather than SROs, Metro schools will instead rely on safety ambassadors, or unarmed MNPS employees who will work with local law enforcement and MNPS’ security department to facilitate safety operations. On-duty police officers will continue to be present in and around elementary schools, along with the department planning the deployment of a new “rapid response team.”
Additional school safety measures — not all of which are new — include security vestibules, AV intercom locks, routine drills, locked classrooms, interior and exterior cameras, badge-access control, a K-9 division and visitor management systems. Officers will have key cards, and lockboxes with keys and building information will be placed in schools for first responders to utilize in case of emergencies. Suspicious behavior can be reported to individual schools, the district’s family information center or to the police. The district also folds social and emotional learning into its safety response.
Some families say they feel safer when an armed guard is on school grounds, while others worry that increased exposure to SROs could have negative effects on students — such as the criminalization of normal childhood behavior. Local officials maintain that SROs are not involved with discipline. While there have been positive anecdotes about relationships with SROs, there have also been reported instances of abuse and extreme altercations between SROs and students across the country. In 2021, a Knoxville student was shot and killed in school by a police officer.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” says Metro Councilmember At-Large Zulfat Suara, who is chair of the council’s education committee. “There are parents that feel like if we have officers in school, shootings will not happen. Now, when you look at some of the shootings we’ve had across the country, we’ve had situations where the officers were there and the shootings have happened, right? And so it’s not a direct correlation that having officers there [would] mean that we’re going to stop something from happening. But you also want to respect parents.”
Though MNPS, the MNPD and the Metro Juvenile Court haven’t specifically tracked school arrests, Lt. Jason Picanzo of MNPD’s School Safety Division says he’s starting to do so as conversations about the school-to-prison pipeline continue. In the first community meeting, Picanzo shared arrest data from four schools, though when asked he declined to disclose which ones. According to Picanzo, a total of 203 situations involving disorderly students, narcotics, fights, threats or weapons resulted in six arrests at those four schools. According to the MNPD, 122 arrests were made at schools last year, including some cases of outstanding warrants or runaways.
The school safety meetings allowed locals to submit questions and comments. The Scene obtained submissions through a public records request. Of the 26 submitted questions and comments, almost half mentioned gun reform or the politics surrounding it — a matter local leaders have very limited control over, as state Republicans have resisted gun reform efforts. Two commenters wanted to see more armed guards in school. Efforts to arm teachers did not move forward during this year’s legislative session, and MNPS’ director of schools opposes the idea.
“I am a public school teacher in MNPS,” said commenter Susan Norwood. “I do not feel safe coming in to work. … We have a teacher and a sub shortage. There are not enough adults in the building to maintain a safe environment.”
“More guns is not the answer,” said Dana Shaw.
“Why haven’t we made the most obvious solution possible?” asked Laura Phillips. “Put armed guards in every school. … More than one too as many as they can get.”
“I am an MNPS elementary school teacher,” said Robyn Prescott. “The feedback from parents and guardians has been overwhelmingly positive to having a uniformed officer at our school DAILY!”
“Why aren’t teachers allowed to bring personal guns and lock them up in their desk if they complete a mandated gun safety class and full background check?” said Dandida Kruse.
“How do you plan to respond to social, social and emotional needs of the students?” asked James Polk.
“My daughter begins kindergarten next year, and while worries and fears accompany any new student and their caregivers as they begin school for the first time, those worries and fears should never include the fear that they will be murdered or traumatized,” said Margaret Kingsbury. “It is unconscionable.”
