Advocate speaks out on state law changes since Covenant shooting, in wake of Wisconsin school shooting
The Tennessee school safety advocate suggested a new way to keep schools safe.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Tennessee has a long list of school safety changes they’ve made since the tragic Covenant School shooting.
In 2024, Tennessee’s legislative session focused on laws such as arming teachers, requiring all schools to have school resource officers, and more.
One school safety advocate explained why he believes some new laws and changes to existing rules could not only keep students safe but also explained why the changes may not be enough.
“It’s tragic,” said Patrick Basnett with the Professional Educators of Tennessee. “We can’t keep losing young lives like this. We can’t keep losing our teachers and educators.”
On Monday, the United States saw yet another mass shooting in a school. This time the tragedy happened in Madison, Wisconsin.
Three people, including the 15-year-old suspect, died and six others were injured during the shooting.
In September 2024, four people were killed and nine others were injured at a school in Winder, Georgia.
“We realize it’s not just happening in public schools,” Basnett said. “It’s happening in private schools as was the case in Wisconsin and as was the case at Covenant.”
In 2023, The Covenant School shooting sparked dozens of protests throughout the city of Nashville pushing Tennessee lawmakers to make a long list of changes hoping the tragedy never happens again.
“The most important thing that we have been advocating and what we find to be most important is having somebody at schools…” Basnett said.
In 2023, the General Assembly agreed that money should be set aside to assign a School Resource Officer to every school in the state. When tough situations were presented with staffing resource officers, the state passed a law that allowed retired law enforcement officers to step in as SROs.
“Even if it’s just one SRO, at least you have one first responder,” Basnett said.
Another law passed requiring all school doors to be locked while students are there as well as yearly safety plans at each school.
However, even with all of the new laws, Basnett said it’s not enough.
“There’s this new technology coming out that is kind of like a card or a unit with a button on it that if an emergency is happening, hit that button and you get a response from local police,” Basnett said.
While the state is looking for more ways to protect students, Basnett said it’s going to take more laws and more resources to truly prevent school shootings.
“It has to end sometime,” Basnett said.
State leaders have allocated more than $200 million to help make schools safer.
Copyright 2024 WSMV. All rights reserved.
