As the first anniversary of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting approaches — and with the nation continuing to see school and other mass shootings since — enhancing security measures remains critical. Gov. Bill Lee and state legislators are taking aggressive action to address school security through new legislation that puts the responsibility on schools, even while the state’s lax gun laws remain in place.
One substantial bill currently being considered would financially penalize schools that don’t pass checks for locked exterior doors. An amendment to the legislation states that if local or state law enforcement finds unlocked exterior doors at a school on more than two occasions, and if the school does not have an armed school resource officer or school security officer, it would need to hire one within 30 days. Failure to hire an SRO in this timeframe and undergo a corrective action plan could result in 2 percent of state funds being withheld from the school until these actions are taken. If a school continues to fail checks for locked exterior doors, the state could withhold additional funds, increasing up to 10 percent by the seventh violation. Schools that already employ SROs or SSOs would be held to the same standards and face similar repercussions. The bill also requires increased safety plans, drills and security systems.
“It’s the simple things,” House bill co-sponsor Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) tells the Scene. “We can spend multiple millions of dollars making sure we have SROs and armed SSOs. But it all falls apart if things such as a secure exterior door is not secured where anybody can walk in anytime.”
A Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson tells the Scene that there are currently 22 SRO vacancies — the same number of vacancies as in August. Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Adrienne Battle and MNPD Chief John Drake recently started a “safety ambassador” program, which leans on retired police officers, among others, to serve as an unarmed security presence in elementary schools. According to a district representative, MNPS has hired a program supervisor and six safety ambassadors and is in the process of hiring more. Because MNPS doesn’t comment on pending legislation, it’s unclear how the bill might affect the safety ambassador program if passed.
The proposed legislation comes from the office of Gov. Bill Lee, who signed a school-safety-related executive order following the Uvalde shooting. Lee has touted the state’s safety measures, including resources for schools and parents and an SRO grant program. He and other Republicans, however, have not publicly acknowledged the role that gun access plays in the conversation.
“I think you’re trying to put two issues into one, and I don’t think those are the same, and most responsible gun owners, they understand that,” Senate bill co-sponsor Sen. Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) tells the Scene.
The state’s Republican supermajority has not considered restricting gun access this session — in fact, lawmakers have filed several bills aiming to expand it. One bill would allow certain school staff to carry firearms on campuses. Other legislation considered but ultimately not passed this session would have allowed 18-year-olds to carry guns without a permit and allowed students to carry firearms on college campuses.
While some parents and community members are in favor of increasing armed security at schools, others are wary of the negative impact it could have on certain students — particularly students of color and those with disabilities, who tend to be arrested at higher rates than their peers. One bill filed this session would allow SSOs who have received behavior intervention training to use mechanical restraints on students receiving special education services in grades 5-12 during emergency situations.
A recent statewide poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy shows that 83 percent of survey respondents feel schools are safer when they have school resource officers.
“Generally, a majority of Tennessee parents agree on several firearm-related school safety measures,” reads a release from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy. “Most parents agree schools are safer if background checks are expanded to all gun sales (71%); if active shooter drills are conducted routinely (71%); if students, staff and visitors go through a metal detector prior to entering a school (70%); and if firearm access ‘can be temporarily restricted through civil court order for persons who pose a risk to themselves or others’ (64%). However, less than half of parents, 35%, agree that schools are safer if teachers are armed.”
Update, March 23: A slightly different version of the amended bill passed the House Education Administration Committee on Wednesday. The new version would not financially penalize schools that do not have SROs or SSOs. Instead, schools would be required to hire one within 30 days, and if they fail to do so, they must submit monthly letters to the state education commissioner explaining why the position has not been filled. The bill is set to be discussed in the Senate Education Committee on March 29.
