Lee updates school safety efforts
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Gov. Bill Lee's strategy to improve school safety has been to engage parents, train police officers and ramp up security checks at schools across the state.
Why it matters: Lee's school strategy, unveiled in June via an executive order, is a template for Republican leaders looking to prevent school shootings without implementing stricter gun laws.
- Lee's administration provided an update Tuesday on how its safety plan, released in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting, is going.
By the numbers: The governor's office said more than 10,000 residents are using the SafeTN smartphone app, which allows parents to confidentially report school safety concerns.
- Every Tennessee school — 1,838 in total — has completed a safety assessment, and 104 of the state's 147 school districts have participated in new safety training, according to the administration.
- Frequent unannounced checks have also taken place to test if school doors latch and if other precautions are in place, the administration says.
State of play: A key tenant of Lee's school safety plan is improving police officer training on how to respond to a mass shooting event.
- Updated training has been provided to more than 600 school resource officers, according to Lee's office.
What he's saying: "Nothing is more important than the safety of our children, and I thank Tennesseans for doing their part as we continue our coordinated effort to protect students and teachers across the state," Lee said in a press release.
What's next: Parents and schools will soon have access to a new school safety resource and engagement guide, Lee's office says.
- Schools will also receive updated building security standards. And law enforcement will be supported through improved recruitment and continued training efforts.
The other side: State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, a Nashville Democrat, says the state should focus on gun reform.
- Clemmons has called for a pause on gun sales without background checks and for laws that punish people whose firearms are stolen from unlocked vehicles.
- "Tennessee families deserve more than an app and our children shouldn't be made to feel like they're entering a maximum security prison just to feel safe in their classrooms," Clemmons tells Axios.