NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Metro students are scheduled to head back to class next week, where they'll be welcomed by more School Resource Officers.

The Metro Nashville Police Department has added 23 new SROs across the district. That includes two high schools with three officers each. The department called it their “highest ever” coverage at Metro schools.

“Building relationships, working in close collaboration with Metro Schools, putting a rapid school safety team together. We’ve done a lot to try and mitigate future school violence,” said MNPD Chief John Drake on Friday. 

Now in the 4th year of their ‘School Safety Initiative,’ Drake said changes made to campus security are not based on January's deadly school shooting in Antioch. 

“We were planning for active shooters even before the Covenant incident, even before the Antioch incident. So we’ve met with Metro Schools, we’ve given them what we thought would be best moving forward,” explained Drake. 

Speaking to his SROs, Drake referenced relationship-building as a skill all their school officers need—one they can hopefully use to prevent future campus violence. 

“Our men and women are invested in more than just the police aspect,” said Drake. “It’s building the relationships, getting to know people, and then those kids that may be on the edge or teetering on doing something wrong, we get the opportunity to have that conversation, to change that trajectory.” 

This school year, McGavock and Antioch High Schools will have the most SROs in Davidson County with three each. Metro police said the schools were chosen due to their size. 

Every district middle school and high school will have at least one school resource officer. Many elementary schools, however, still don't have an assigned SRO. 

In total, based on numbers shared by Metro police, only nine of Metro’s 68 K-5 elementary schools will be staffed with a School Resource Officer to start the school year.

“I think last year they only had eight (SROs), and if they’re only going up one from last year, I mean that is pitiful to be honest with you,” said JC Bowman, executive director/CEO for the Professional Educators of Tennessee. “We need them in those elementary schools and we need to prioritize that. Until every school has one, we haven’t done our job."

While praising Chief Drake and Metro police’s efforts, Bowman said there are still countless ways to improve school security, including better reporting of weapons found at schools, and hiring more women SROs.

“Eighty-two percent of our teachers are female and it would be very helpful to see some SROs that are female,” said Bowman. 

Metro students will return for their first full day of school on Thursday, Aug. 7.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/more-sros-added-to-metro-schools-most-elementary-schools-to-go-without/