WHB/8/3
Sponsored by JD Ahern, Drew Hill, Schaefer Smith of Brentwood Academy
This legislation was filed in the Education category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERMENT LEGISLATURE: |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1) Terms used in this act should be defined as follows: |
| 4 | a) SRO- School resource officer |
| 5 | b) SWAT- SWAT team is a generic term for a police tactical unit, deployed in high-risk situations. |
| 6 | c) County- a political and administrative division of a state, providing certain local governmental |
| 7 | services. |
| 8 | d) concealed carry- the act of concealment of a firearm on one's person. |
| 9 | e) Glock 19- standard issued handgun for law enforcement officers. |
| 10 | Section 2) All public high schools will be required to appoint a certain number of teachers to be |
| 11 | armed with concealed weapons in order for the defense of possible attacks. This will also require |
| 12 | an SRO (school resource officer) to be hired for every school within the state, which there already |
| 13 | are. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Section 3) The number of teachers in the program will be determined by the school’s SRO and |
| 16 | based on the school's size and number of possible entrances. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Section 4) Each SRO assigned to a school must pass the law enforcement basic training physical |
| 19 | evaluation requirements as well as the mental evaluation similar to that of the teacher’s |
| 20 | requirements. The SRO must also come from a SWAT and or military background to give them the |
| 21 | basic tools for training and leading the teachers in the event of an emergency. This system will |
| 22 | also include a committee of each SRO in that county of Tennessee. In this committee, each SRO is |
| 23 | free to make any changes that they feel would better the safety of the schools. They are also |
| 24 | encouraged to share any weak points in other county schools they have found. They may also |
| 25 | appeal to the state for additional funding for any safety upgrades or concerns they may have. The |
| 26 | SRO will have a safe containing one shotgun and assault rifle per school. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Section 5) There will be, at minimum, five or more teachers per school which will take part in the |
| 29 | concealed carry program at each school. The SRO will be responsible for appointing the teachers to |
| 30 | be a part of the program. Each teacher appointed to the program will be physically and mentally |
| 31 | evaluated. They will be background checked federally and locally. The SRO will be required to train |
| 32 | his team in clearing the entire school building at least 3 times over the summer or more depending |
| 33 | on what the officer sees fit for training. The program will teach teachers how to clear rooms |
| 34 | quickly and effectively and SWAT tactics for quick and effective removal of a threat before it |
| 35 | becomes a danger to children. It also requires the teacher to get a concealed carry firearms |
| 36 | training and certification with a shotgun and assault rifle. After training and certification, the |
| 37 | teacher will receive a Glock 19 government issued pistol that they will conceal carry throughout |
| 38 | |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Section 6) Bathroom breaks for the teachers in the program will require them to go to the SRO’s |
| 41 | office to clear and store their handgun in the safe before they travel to the restroom. Then they |
| 42 | would re-conceal their weapon and return to class. |
| 43 | |
| 44 | Section 7) This bill also requires a revision of the school shooter drills whereas students will need |
| 45 | to be able to lockdown their classroom without a teacher, in case the teacher must leave their |
| 46 | room. Every class will be trained in locking down their own classroom. Drills will be conducted by |
| 47 | the SRO at random times, only telling the teachers who are a part of the program. |
| 48 | |
| 49 | Section 8) If at any time a member of the program reveals their position or brandishes the firearm |
| 50 | to the students it will result in the immediate removal and firing of the teacher as well as the |
| 51 | charging of TN code 39-17-1362. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Section 9) This bill will cost 30,704,725 and will be taken from the 1.6 billion dollars of |
| 54 | unbudgeted taxes from the past fiscal year. |
| 55 | |
| 56 | Section 10) All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are herby repealed |
| 57 | |
| 58 | Section 11) This act shall take effect May 31st, 2024 |
| 59 |