2023 Tennessee Code › Title 49 - EDUCATION (§§ 49-1-NEW — 49-50-1703) › Chapter 6 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (§§ 49-6-101 — 49-6-8106) › Part 43 - REPORTING STUDENT OFFENSES (§§ 49-6-4301 — 49-6-4404) › Section 49-6-4302 - Tennessee school safety center

(a)
The department of education, in collaboration with the department of safety, shall establish a Tennessee school safety center to develop and evaluate training materials and guidelines on school safety issues, including behavior, discipline and violence prevention.
(b)
The Tennessee school safety center is responsible for the collection and analysis of data related to school safety, including alleged violent or assaultive acts against school employees and students. The center shall make periodic reports to the education committee of the senate and the education administration committee of the house of representatives on the status of school safety efforts.
(c)
[Deleted by 2022 amendment.]
(d)
[Deleted by 2022 amendment.]
(e)
[Deleted by 2022 amendment.]
(f)
The department of safety, in collaboration with the department of education, shall develop a school security assessment for use in Tennessee public schools. The departments shall provide training to local law enforcement agencies and school administrators on the use of the school security assessment to identify school security vulnerabilities. Each LEA and public charter school shall submit to the department of safety an annual school security self-assessment for each school that uses the school security assessment pursuant to this subsection (f). The department of safety may conduct periodic reviews of public schools, as it deems necessary, to verify the effective implementation and use of school security assessments to enhance school security.
(g)
[Deleted by 2022 amendment.]
(h)
LEAs are authorized to act in partnership with local law enforcement agencies for the purpose of hiring school resource officers under the state grant program set forth in §
38-8-115
.
(i)
LEAs may use funding allocated through the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula (TISA) for programs that address school safety, including, but not limited to, innovative violence prevention programs, conflict resolution, disruptive or assaultive behavior management, improved school security, school resource officers, school safety officers, peer mediation, and training for employees on the identification of possible perpetrators of school-related violence.
(j)
LEAs shall submit an annual school safety plan to the Tennessee school safety center. The Tennessee school safety center shall review school safety plans in collaboration with the state-level school safety team established under §
49-6-802
. The Tennessee school safety center shall develop a template for school safety plans to ensure that plans describe, at a minimum, how TISA funds will be used to:
(1)
Improve and support school safety;
(2)
Meet the needs identified in a school security assessment conducted pursuant to this section; and
(3)
Support the safety needs of LEA-authorized public charter schools, if applicable.
Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 367,s 16, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 367,s 17, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 966, s 61, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 64, s 91, eff. 3/29/2021.
Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 345, s 106, eff. 5/10/2019.
Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 154, s 1, eff. 4/18/2019.
Amended by 2015 Tenn. Acts, ch. 182, s 53, eff. 4/17/2015.
Acts 1996, ch. 814, § 1; 1998, ch. 912, §§ 2, 3; 1999, ch. 129, § 2; 2011 , ch. 410, § 4 (x).