Metro Nashville Public Schools have implemented numerous security measures to protect students from threats. With a school shooting once again in national headlines, this time at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, WPLN News has this update on what local authorities are doing to prevent a similar tragedy in Nashville.
“Student and staff safety remains our top priority,” MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted said in a statement. “Over several decades, and especially in recent years, MNPS has made significant investments to strengthen school safety and security practices.”
Many security updates were made in the wake of the Covenant School shooting in 2023, when three students and three adult staff members were killed. Those strategies involve hardening school buildings against outside threats, drills to prepare staff and students for different scenarios, and on-site personnel to prevent attacks and intervene if one occurs.
School Resource Officers
In response to school shootings, many communities have opted to increase police presence to deter offenders and protect students.
Every Metro Nashville middle and high school has at least one school resource officer (SRO) assigned to its campus. Those are sworn officers employed by Metro Nashville Police Department who work within school buildings. In recent years the district has been expanding SROs to elementary schools campuses as well. Ten Metro elementary schools have an SRO. The rest (more than 60) have what’s known as a “safety ambassador.” That employee is supposed to handled “safety senarios, including armed intruders and behavioral challenges, ensuring the well-being of our youngest students,” according to the MNPS website.
MNPD told WPLN News that it has 81 officers assigned to its School Safety Division, as well as 10 supervisors. Separately, the department employs 14 officers, three sergeants and one lieutenant on its Rapid School Safety Team.
Most the SROs in Metro schools (56) have part of their salaries reimbursed by a state grant that was passed in reaction to the Covenant shooting. The Statewide SRO Program Grant provides up to $75,000 per school-based officer. Metro Council is set to vote Tuesday, Oct. 20 on MNPD’s application for the next grant cycle, which, if approved, will provide $4.2 million for SRO salaries.
Research shows mixed effects of SROs on school safety
While SROs have been a major part schools’ efforts to increase security, research shows having armed police in schools comes with tradeoffs. A 2023 report from the Brookings Institute showed schools that SRO presence was associated with an increase in reported gun-related incidents, though that was still rare. Meanwhile, other violent offenses in schools decreased.
However, SROs are also associated with more severe discipline for students. The study found a 62% increase in out-of-school suspensions — an additional 12 out of every 500 students. And researchers found higher rates of expulsion in schools with SROs. Plus, SRO presence was linked with a 52% increase in students being arrested at school or referred to law enforcement.
Researchers say the heightened enforcement corroborates the existence of what’s known as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” And the increase in disciplinary actions disproportionately affects students who are male, Black or have disabilities.
A local juvenile judge expressed concern when MNPS announced it was increasing police presence in schools in response to the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. MNPS began introducing SROs to elementary schools in 2024. At that point, the district wrote in a statement, “while SROs respond to potential threats and criminal activity on campus, they are not involved in disciplinary actions at schools – those continue to be addressed by teachers and school administrators.”
Braisted said the 2024 statement remains true today.
Other school safety measures
In addition to providing SROs, MNPD has partnered with MNPS to create safety plans, provide training, monitor security footage and screen visitors.
MNPS buildings have systems to limit who can enter buildings and secure vestibules. They have also installed shatter resistant film on windows to prevent break-ins.
The district highlights some high-tech tools among its security measures, as well. Its camera systems share direct feeds to MNPD. And it has weapons detection technology. The Omnilert system is designed to alert authorities when a weapon is visible on camera. Another system called Evolv Weapons Detection is supposed to use AI-driven scanners to find concealed weapons on campus.
The Evolv technology was added after Omnilert failed to detect the gun that an Antioch High School student used to open fire in the school cafeteria in 2025. That shooting killed 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante.
Following the Antioch shooting, MNPD authored a school safety review with 19 recommendations for MNPS. The school district did not directly address which or how many of those recommendations it has adopted. In statement, the Braisted wrote:
“We continue to work with the MNPD and our District Safety Team to review recommendations and best practices as it relates to safety in our schools. While detailed safety plans and discussions are confidential under state law to protect the safety of our students and staff, a broad overview of safety and security is available on our website.”
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