KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – The Knox County Board of Education appears united across the aisle in pushing back against a bill Gov. Bill Lee signed last month creating a pathway to arming teachers and staff inside Tennessee schools.
Two resolutions in the board’s May 9 meeting agenda call for rejecting the notion of arming teachers in schools— one requested by democrat Katherine Bike and one by Republican Kristi Kristy.
Ultimately, the resolutions say the same thing: Knox County Schools is satisfied with law enforcement officers inside schools handling the security of its students. The wording is different, however.
Bike’s resolution calls into question whether or not armed teachers and staff will actually create a safer learning environment. In fact, it claims the opposite.
“The introduction of firearms into educational environments poses significant risks to the overall safety and security of students, faculty, and staff,” Bike’s resolution reads. “Allowing individuals, even with enhanced handgun carry permits, to carry concealed firearms on school premises increases the potential for accidents, escalations of conflicts, and unintended harm to students and staff.”
Beyond safety, the resolution says even the idea of a teacher carrying a gun will detract from a schools’ learning environment, distracting students.
“The presence of firearms in schools may create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, especially considering that parents and students will not be notified of which specific individuals will have firearms, thus detracting from the positive learning environment that schools should strive to maintain,” the resolutions states.
Kristy’s resolution is worded differently, but the sentiment is the same: let trained officers, who openly carry, handle securing schools.
“Knox County Schools is blessed with competent, highly-trained certified School Security Officers and School Resource Officers,” Kristy’s resolution says. “The Knox County Board of Education hereby affirms that certified law enforcement personnel are equipped to manage the safety and security of Knox County Schools.”
Ultimately, the resolutions cover both sides of the guns-in-schools issue. Bike’s resolution states outright that teachers and staff won’t be allowed to carry in classrooms, while Kristy’s resolution affirms that uniformed officers and SSOs will continue to handle school safety in the county.
If the resolutions pass, Knox County Schools will be the third district to declare it won’t let teachers carry guns in East Tennessee. It’ll follow Oak Ridge Schools and Anderson County Schools.
The board is set to discuss the resolutions on May 9.
