Governor Lee Amends Proposed Legislation, FY23-24 Budget to Accommodate Stronger Measures to Strengthen School Safety

One week after the school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that left six dead, Governor Bill Lee proposed additional actions to strengthen safety at public and private schools across Tennessee, including amending the budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 as well as an existing bill making its way through the state legislature.

During a press conference with state leaders on Monday, Lee stated that the amended legislation and budget is “the next step” but will not be the last, as there is “still much to do” in terms of keeping schools safe and secure.

One budget amendment Lee proposed includes $140 million for public schools to hire school resource officers and highly trained guards.

“With this funding we’re taking the burden off of teachers and schools and districts – there is no excuse to not have a guard at every school,” Lee stated.

Lee also proposed establishing a grant fund to make “significant physical security upgrades” at both public and private schools all across the state. In addition, Lee proposed an additional $8 million in funding for additional school-based behavioral health liaisons across the state.

Lee also spoke on his initial budget proposal of $30 million to expand a statewide homeland security network with 122 agents serving students at both public and private schools, saying that this plan would “prevent threats before they become tragedies.”

In terms of legislation, Lee proposed adding four new measures to the bill (HB322/SB274) aimed at enhancing school safety introduced at the start of the 2023 legislative session. These measures include:

Yes, Every Kid
  • Enacting a multi-tiered accountability plan to ensure exterior school doors are locked while students are present;
  • Requiring that private security guards are held to a high standard and receive active shooter training prior to being posted at Tennessee schools;
  • Requiring every school district to establish threat assessment teams, when appropriate;
  • Requiring every public and private school to develop annual safety plans, which must include a newly required incident command drill for school leaders and law enforcement to prepare for what to expect in various emergencies.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Gov. Bill Lee

 

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5 Thoughts to “Governor Lee Amends Proposed Legislation, FY23-24 Budget to Accommodate Stronger Measures to Strengthen School Safety”

  1. Joe Blow

    Karen – You very accurately described a prison. I do not want my children and grandchildren going to a lockdown every day.

  2. KAREN BRACKEN

    There needs to be one point of entry/exit and all doors must be steel doors…..no glass. The single point of entry/exit must be manned by an SRO or trained armed guard while school is in session. The single point of entry must have a camera and intercom and the person at the door must prove they are either a parent with an appointment. All deliveries need to be done after school hours. These are easy steps that will help a lot. I also believe that teachers that attend a training class should be allowed to carry (concealed) in the class room. Countries in which teachers are armed do not have school shootings. We have a mental health crisis in this country and sadly they target gun free zones (which by the way was the dumbest thing this country ever did….thanks to Sen. Joe Biden) So lets take down the “Gun Free Zone’ signs ASAP.

  3. Phyllis West

    One Solution is to abolish Federal Dept of Education, & give us our money back, so public schools don’t have to agree to perverted terms to get a grant. We are smart enough to take care of our own children. And I for one would be more than glad to carry a firearm. Once the crazies know teachers & other staff are armed, they won’t come near it. There is a terrible discipline problem in our schools too. No respect for authority. So Policies have to change in those areas too. To provide a good learning environment.

  4. Joe Blow

    Typical knee jerk reaction from Lee. Throw more money at the problem rather than implementing a well thought out plan. Besides my school district has already allocated funding for an SRO at all schools. Of course that has not yet happened even with the first tax increase to cover that was in 2014. Then we had another increase in 2019 using the same excuse and with the same results – NADA.

    I love what Mr. Lee says –
    “ ‘With this funding we’re taking the burden off of teachers and schools and districts – there is no excuse to not have a guard at every school,’ Lee stated.”

    I guess that Mr. Lee planes to print money or plant a bunch of money trees. I resent his thoughtless waste of money. Oh and be careful about arming someone at a school. Little Johnny Snowflake and his parents might be triggered.

  5. Randy

    Keep handing money over to these extortionists and they will one day be the only one left holding a gun. You will then understand hindsight. We have a problem but this is not the solution. Be honest with people. We have allowed the appeasement of the looney left to go to far. Who could have imagined that the nice people that run schools would be criminals and socialists. Parents should have been monitoring what Public Education (aka organized crime) has been doing for decades. We all assumed they were doing it for the children. Turns out the children were a pawn in their sick game.

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