As Special Session Looms, MNPD Will Not Be Requesting The 5 Million Set Aside For SRO’s In Public Schools

Photo Credit: Holly Abernathy / 6q Creative

The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

As August approaches and the special session scheduled by Governor Lee looms in the near future with a focus on “public safety, people are still wondering exactly what that will look like and what it will mean for our public schools here in Tennessee. 

Reports this past week conveyed that the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) will not be requesting the 5.25 million dollars for the 66 elementary schools in the district, citing a lack of resources.

According to the report, officials inside the department have never created SRO positions specifically for elementary school campuses within MNPS, and there are no current future plans for that to change.

A spokesman for MNPD said that “The police department presently is not staffed to provide full time SROs at elementary schools (more than 70 personnel)”.  The department does have intentions to apply for the $3.75 million dollar grant to help fund its existing positions in middle and high schools, which the agency anticipates will be fully staffed by the time school commences this fall. 

The issue that is in question, however, is that it seems MNPD is growing its ranks, according to its Chief John Drake who has said that there is a very good chance that they’ll reach full staffing capacity at the rate of growth they are currently experiencing.

The agency attributes the additions to the financial support it is receiving from the city that allowed the department to increase the starting salaries of their officers by 34%, to land at between $60,000 to $64,000 with an additional $6,000 to come after the end of the 4-month probationary period. 

So with so much growth occurring within MNPD, then why are those new resources not being allocated to the schools where some of our most vulnerable citizens spend most of their time? 

The answers are likely thee-fold.

First, it could be that while they have the resources to recruit and hire the additional officers needed to staff every elementary school, a continuation of funding for the positions have not been allocated in any budget, thereby leaving a question of how the SRO services would be provided after the initial grant funds run out.

A source within MNPS told The Tennessee Conservative that many decisions similar to this get made because the money would have to be reallocated from somewhere else, or a new source of funding would have to be located.

In May of last year, as a response to the Uvlade school shooting in Texas, MNPS introduced a program that brought part time retired officers onto elementary campuses to help those schools coordinate their safety plans and work as a safety monitor on school grounds. These officers, however, were always unarmed.  So, the department and the district might be wondering where the money would come from for officers to be on campus in perpetuity. 

Additionally, elected and appointed officials in MNPS are seemingly influenced by their politics as evidenced by some recent comments from the school board members there. 

Several members of the MNPS school board and the district Director Adrienne Battle have openly expressed their discomfort at having an armed SRO at elementary campuses citing concerns of an increase in incidents and having armed police in the same physical space as young children.

Berthena Nabaa-McKinney, a member of MNPS board of education, was recently quoted as saying, “I am still concerned about the number of SROs that will be in our schools, unfortunately due to the rising gun violence, and the impact it will have on students day-in and day-out, There is a lot of research on the impact of SROs with students in school, especially students who come from underserved communities.” 

The study they referred to can be found here. It is from the Center For Public Integrity, a progressive non-profit, whose slogan is “Investigating in equality”. Most of the information in the study seems to lack the context necessary to adequately evaluate the implied outcomes that are expressed. 

Finally, the way the grant is worded, there is no margin for the department to use the funds in any way that doesn’t result in a full time SRO vs using the funds to cover overtime for those officers who will patrol the elementary schools in their off hours, the way they have always done in the past. 

The agency has mentioned that they may take advantage of the special session to ask for an amendment in the language that would create room for them to use the money and just do things the way they always have.  

We will continue to follow this story as it develops. 

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.