Governor Bill Haslam has proposed an amendment to the 2018-19 state budget, that includes $30 million to improve school safety.
The proposal would be considered by the General Assembly in the coming weeks. The funding includes $25 million in nonrecurring and $5.2 million in recurring school safety grants, according to a release.
The 2018-19 budget amendment is now available, and it includes proposed funding for school safety, higher education, broadband accessibility, and treatment and recovery services as part of the @TnTogether plan to address the opioid crisis: https://t.co/AYINxrnnOf#TNWillLead
— Gov. Bill Haslam (@BillHaslam) March 20, 2018
“Our children deserve to learn in a safe and secure environment and I’ve asked the working group to make specific recommendations on school safety measures,” Haslam said. “These additional school safety funds, which include doubling the current amount of recurring funding we have through our school safety grants, will provide our schools with additional resources to meet their specific needs.”
Earlier this month, Haslam appointed a School Safety Working Group to review school safety across the state and provide recommendations to improve security.
Haslam said how the grants will be used would depend on what the group recommends.
"It's open. Everything from school resource officers to physical improvements of the schools, to video monitors to better alert notifications," Haslam told NewsChannel 5.
The proposed amendment to the budget would add to the existing $4.8 million reserved for school safety improvements, according to Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration Commissioner Larry Martin.
Martin presented the budget to the House Finance, Way and Means Committee on the same day of the announcement.
He told lawmakers that everything is a "work in progress" but would expect to spread the money equally to law enforcement agencies.
