District has no plan to place school resource officers in Nashville elementary schools

Nashville school officials don't have plans to place school resource officers in elementary schools amid conversations around school safety following last month's massacre at an elementary school in Texas.

Some lawmakers have called for more for funding for school security, including school resource officers and even a special legislative session to address gun control.

Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Adrienne Battle updated school board members on some of the district's current initiatives Tuesday. Here are some of those updates.

School safety: How Metro Nashville Public Schools are responding after school shooting in Texas

No plans to increase number of SROs

Currently, the district partners with the Metro Nashville Police Department to provide school resource officers in every middle and high school.

The agreement is for one in each middle school and two in every high school. Due to staffing shortages, only about about 38 of the 59 SRO positions budgeted for by MNPD are currently staffed.

Board member Fran Bush expressed concerns Tuesday that elementary schools do not have SROs, but Battle was clear the district is not planning to add SROs to its 70-plus elementary school campuses.

Research shows that though police presence is increasing in schools nationwide, there is no evidence they prevent school shootings and often contribute to inequitable disciplinary consequences and even arrests of young children.

Related: Is more school police the answer after Uvalde shooting? Why research shows that won't help

Mayor's Office working with council to provide one-time funding for security

Mayor John Cooper and At-Large Council member Burkley Allen, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, are working with the Metro Council to provide one-time funding in the upcoming budget for security projects in schools, like installing "security vestibules," and additional cameras.

Though an amount has yet to be finalized, the city has about $3.9 million in unspent "rainy day" funds from a previous year's budget that could be used. A school safety allocation may fit the criteria for those one-time funds, Allen told The Tennessean.

But budget talks are ongoing and the district has several requests in front of the council.

More from Adrienne Battle: Nashville superintendent on Texas tragedy: 'This is not a school issue. This is a society issue'

March for Our Lives: Hundreds gather in Nashville to call for end to gun violence at March for Our Lives rally

Department of Justice grant to fund anonymous tip program

The district recently received a $990,927 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to "support the development and implementation of a reporting system for students to anonymously report information about threats or situations that will lead to harm or violence," Battle announced.

Reporter Cassandra Stephenson contributed to this report.

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Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MNPS does not plan to put school resource officers in elementary schools