Tennessee Governor To Propose Plan To Put Armed Guard In Every School

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee plans to propose a plan to provide resources to every private and public school in the state to hire an armed guard. The proposed plan would place an armed school resource officer (SRO) in every public school and provide funding for private schools to hire armed guards with similar training to those in public schools. Private schools, however, are not required to participate in the program. Governor Lee plans to funnel millions of dollars into public and private schools to reinforce security measures following the mass shooting at a Nashville Christian elementary school earlier this week. The Covenant School, where the shooting occurred, is a private Presbyterian school that did not have an SRO at the time of the incident.

Governor Lee expressed the need to address people’s concerns and protect children in whatever way possible. The proposal comes after hundreds of protesters stormed the Tennessee state capitol in Nashville, demanding that lawmakers pass gun control laws. The governor did not reference gun control measures in his proposal specifically, but noted the importance of individuals who are a potential threat not having access to firearms. Interestingly, earlier this week, Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty announced the SAFE School Act, a federal program to establish a $900 million grant to provide funding to train and hire veterans and former law enforcement officers to serve as school safety officers.

Additionally, the Governor’s proposal emphasizes mental health concerns in schools. The new plan aims to provide more mental health support through school-based behavioral health liaisons. His proposed budget for this year includes $20 million for school security upgrades, and he hopes to expand this funding to include private schools. It remains unclear how much money Lee plans to allocate to reinforce security measures in the revised budget proposal.