NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Monday, two Nashville area private schools — Christ Presbyterian Academy and Currey Ingram Academy — had to cancel classes because they received school threats. On the same day, the Tennessee House of Representatives considered a bill that would increase the criminal penalties against those who communicate those threats.
Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, still remembers rushing to the Covenant School shooting scene, to support one of his staffers who had a child enrolled there.
"The reunification site for the covenant parents, I mean those parents are sitting there in a church pew, hours on end, waiting for someone to tell them if their child made it or not," Mitchell said. "That just seems, in our society, we should not have to do that."
Then just a few months later, it was Mitchell getting an alert about his own child's school.
"There were probably 200 police officers with sirens blaring that the children inside heard," Rep. Mitchell said.
That threat at MLK Magnet High School, which took place in August 2023, ended up being a hoax. But for those students and families, the emotions and trauma sure didn't feel erroneous.
"They thought it was real," said Mitchell. "When you have a small child that goes through something that traumatic, it’s going to be something that goes on for the rest of that child’s life."
Born out of that cruel day at MLK Magnet, came a rare moment of bipartisanship.
"That day, as I was walking away from the school with Brady, Speaker [Cameron] Sexton called me and said — Bo, you know nothing’s going to happen if they find out who did this. It’s just a misdemeanor," Mitchell said.
So the two normally opposing lawmakers crafted a new bill that would make issuing school threats a Class E felony. "I’d hope that would send a message to other people, I don’t want to do that," he said.
It's worth noting, this bill doesn't just punish those from outside the school that make threats. If a student inside the school does it too, they could face prison time. Mitchell is comfortable with that part of the bill, admitting the District Attorney can still use prosecutorial discretion.
"So they’ll think twice about picking up the phone and making that kind of threat again," Mitchell said.
Mitchell made it clear: he wants to do a lot more to make schools safer. He's proposing bills that would increase the minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21, ban high-capacity magazines, and establish a 14-day waiting period after a firearm purchase. None of those bills are expected to make it very far.
But Mitchell does think maybe it'll be a memorable first step towards more meaningful changes.
"It’s good, but it’s not solving the problem. It’s not saving the children," said Mitchell. "I think it’s sending out a good sign to the rest of the general assembly. We can work together on tough things."
The Bill passed in the Tennessee House. It still needs to be considered in the Tennessee Senate.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
