Governor Bill Lee joined Republican members of the Tennessee General Assembly Monday to announce the proposed next steps to increase school safety since the Covenant School shooting last week.
“We’ve been working on school safety for years, especially in the last year, but today is a time to enhance even the legislation we have brought forward,” said Governor Lee during his address.
The Governor is proposing a major investment in new dollars to fund three pillars of school safety.
That money includes $140 million for public schools to hire School Resource Officers (SRO) to ensure every public school in Tennessee has access to armed security. The Tennessee General Assembly intends to look into expanding this to private schools as well.
Governor Lee also announced a grant fund to make significant security upgrades to public and non-public schools across the state.
The third pillar includes increased funding for school-based mental health resources.
“These are thoughtful, practical solutions that’ll enhance the safety of students and teachers immediately, but our conversations will continue,” said Governor Lee.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton and other Republican Leaders from both Houses joined the Governor in highlighting the need for increased mental health services and guards.
“We have a crisis in our state. For young, for old, for everybody, we have to do a better job of providing treatment for individuals who need it, especially if they’re suicidal or threatening to harm others. The governor’s proposal expands this in K-12 schools,” said Speaker Sexton.
Governor Lee says he also expects to see red flag legislation proposed that would prevent individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from possessing firearms. The Governor says he expects that there will be an opportunity to look at legislation around the country in order to accomplish that.
“I’m asking the General Assembly to bring forth a number of proposals, to look at any proposal on the table, that will accomplish what I think is most important: keeping those that are a danger away from weapons and protecting constitutional rights,” said Governor Lee.
