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Nashville council to consider $4.8 million request for school officers
Metro Nashville Public Schools is seeking state grant funding to add dedicated school resource officers at 56 schools. The plan would expand coverage particularly at elementary schools, where only seven of the district’s 73 campuses currently have an officer assigned.
Metro Nashville’s council is expected this week to vote on whether Metro Nashville Public Schools can apply for a $4.8 million state grant to fund school resource officers at 56 district schools next year.
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security program offers up to $75,000 per school for a dedicated officer. The grant would support officers at elementary, middle and high schools, though the district has not identified which campuses would receive them.
All Metro Nashville middle and high schools already have at least one dedicated resource officer. At the elementary level, just seven of the district’s 73 schools do.
Tennessee launched the grant program after the 2023 shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, where three children and three staff members were killed. In March, Metro Police also released an eight-page school safety report commissioned by the council after the Antioch High School shooting. MNPS has not publicly detailed which recommendations from that report it has adopted.
School resource officers can work with school communities on safety, said James Englert, president of the National Association of School Resource Officers. But an officer cannot be everywhere in a building, he said, and the presence of officers alone cannot prevent school violence.
An MNPS spokesperson said student and staff safety remains a priority and that the district is working with Metro Nashville Police and its safety team to review recommendations and practices.
The council vote would authorize the grant application; the district would still need to be awarded the funding before the proposed placements could go forward.