Governor Bill Lee signed new school safety legislation into law Wednesday morning designed to boost school security and provide additional mental health resources.
“Nothing is more important than Tennessee students and teachers returning home from school safely each day,” said Governor Lee. “Every year since 2019, we’ve worked with the General Assembly to prioritize school safety, and this year, we’ve passed significant measures to fund an armed SRO for every public school, enhance mental health support and boost physical security at public and private schools across Tennessee.”
The legislation will establish a state-level safety team to assist Local Education Agencies (LEAs). Additionally, the enhanced school safety legislation will:
- Require every public and private school to develop annual safety plans, including a newly required incident command drill for school leaders and law enforcement.
- Require every school district to establish threat assessment teams to ensure students are connected to support services and behavioral health professionals when appropriate.
- Require private security guards to receive active shooter training prior to being posted at schools.
- Enact a multi-tiered accountability plan to ensure all exterior doors are locked while students are present.
“Children and their teachers should always be safe at school,” said House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland. “This legislation, along with additional investments being made this year, will greatly enhance the security at public and private schools across our state. I commend Governor Lee and my Republican colleagues for their continued commitment to increasing school safety in Tennessee.”
The legislation is separate from the Governor’s goals with a special session later this year to strengthen gun safety and if adds on to other school safety actions approved this year, some predating the Covenant shooting that killed three children and three adults.
During his State of the State address in February, Governor Lee proposed increased funding to increase physical school security and mental health resources across the state. This included an initial budget of $30 million to have more than 100 Homeland Security agents serve in public and private schools in every Tennessee county.
Following the Covenant shooting, Governor Lee proposed additional support to what he called the three pillars of school safety, including increasing the $30 million investment to $230 million.
The additional funding includes $140 million for full-time armed SROs at every Tennessee public school, $40 million for security upgrades at public schools, $14 million for private school security upgrades, and $8 million going towards school-based mental health professionals across the state.
“Governor Lee and my colleagues in the General Assembly have made great strides on school safety over the years,” said Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge. “But more needed to be done and we answered that call this session. Hardening security at our public and private schools is no longer just a priority, it is an imperative. The safety of our schools is of paramount importance and I am grateful we were in the financial position to quickly allocate the funds for these improvements. I would like to thank Governor Lee for bringing the legislation and Leader Johnson and Chairman Lundberg for shepherding it through the Senate. This historic investment makes clear our state’s commitment to keeping our schools safe.”
