Wilson County Schools director won't sign off on arming teachers with guns. Here's why
Wilson County Schools Director Jeff Luttrell told board members at a work session Thursday that he will not "sign off" on teachers potentially carrying guns in class as a new Tennessee law allows.
The reason, Luttrell said, is that Wilson County has School Resource Officers in all of it's traditional schools.
“I am more than happy with our SRO program and know what is going on with our sheriff and what he’s willing to do to provide safety for our kids,” Luttrell said. “At this point and time, I see no need for that here.”
The new teacher carry law requires a district's director of schools, school principal and chief of local law enforcement to sign off on a staff member's authority to carry a concealed handgun.
“I’m not willing to do that and will not do that,” Luttrell told the board.
Wilson County has at least one SRO in every school, including elementary schools.
The district started its SRO partnership in 1995 and put officers in all schools shortly after the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in 2012. It killed 26 people.
“I understand the intent of the legislation (for) some of these smaller, rural counties that are unable to get SROs,” Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan said. “Wilson County has been responsible in making sure schools are safe by putting SROs in schools. We’re in a good place in Wilson County as it relates to school safety.
“(Luttrell) has made a decision not to go forward with it, and I’ll support him in that decision.”
The Lebanon Special School District also has SROs in all schools with an additional officer and police dog, a dedicated DARE officer and "multiple layers of security measures," Director Brian Hutto said.
"We will not be arming teachers as our needs are already covered at our campuses," Hutto said.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Wilson County Schools won't let teachers carry guns in schools
