NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - School safety has been top of mind in the state of Tennessee ever since The Covenant School shooting one year ago. Gov. Bill Lee signed a $230 million school safety bill to help increase resources.
Metro Nashville Public Schools gave WSMV4 an inside look at what improvements have been made one year since the deadly shooting.
For Demarco Butler, a locked school door is a good thing.
“I check this door, it’s open, so I have to lock this,” Butler explained.
He’s one of the more than 65 safety ambassadors recently added to Metro Nashville elementary schools. Butler said his top priority is keeping kids safe.
“I am here to keep the kids safe.”
He walked WSMV4 through the halls of Goodlettsville Elementary, checking in on classrooms, while also keeping a watchful eye outside of the school for anything unusual.
“I know that he’s been by because I hear the rattle on my door,” Principal Tracy Gibson said.
Gibson adds that safety ambassadors, like Butler, provide peace of mind.
“It helps me go about my job of academics because I know there’s someone else here that has the safety come first,” Gibson said.
While safety ambassadors were added after the shooting at The Covenant School, MNPS said enhancing school safety is an ongoing process. The school district said all schools now have technology detecting “brandished” weapons and security vestibules preventing people from walking through the front doors into the school and provided active shooter training to more than 8,200 district personnel.
Ongoing safety projects for MNPS include installing shatter-resistant film, audio enhancement systems so teachers can more easily alert administrators to issues and expanding the school resource officer program.
Metro Nashville police has assigned school resource officers to all middle and high schools. At elementary schools, safety ambassadors like Butler are filling in the gap. As a father of three, he said the job is a way of paying it forward.
“I want people to keep my kids safe so, I want to keep other kids safe,” Butler said. “Keep them safe at all times. The best part of my job is building relationships with kids so that I know they’re safe and they can focus and learn.”
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