<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE BILL 814
By Gardenhire
SB0814
002585
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
relative to school safety.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 1, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) As used in this section, "eligible LEA" means an LEA, excluding the
achievement school district (ASD):
(1) With ten (10) or more schools:
(A) Identified as priority schools in 2015, as defined by the state's
accountability system pursuant to § 49-1-602;
(B) Among the bottom ten percent (10%) of schools, as identified
by the department in 2017 in accordance with § 49-1-602(b)(3);
(C) Identified as priority schools in 2018, as defined by the state's
accountability system pursuant to § 49-1-602; and
(D) Identified as priority schools in 2021, as defined by the state's
accountability system pursuant to § 49-1-602; and
(2) That experienced a loss of student life in the 2024-2025 school year
due to gun violence occurring on the grounds of a school managed and
controlled by the LEA's local board of education.
(b) The department of education shall establish and administer a three-year
artificial intelligence weapons detection system grant pilot program to award grants to
eligible LEAs for the purchase of artificial intelligence weapons detection systems for
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each school managed and controlled by the eligible LEA's local board of education that
does not have an artificial intelligence weapons detection system.
(c) Each artificial intelligence weapons detection system purchased for purposes
of this section must be capable of identifying weapons, including knives and firearms, on
school grounds and immediately notifying law enforcement and school administration of
the presence of a weapon on school grounds upon its detection by the system.
(d) Subject to appropriations, the department shall allocate and disburse grants
to eligible LEAs each year of the pilot program. If, in any year of the pilot program, all
public schools managed and controlled by the local board of education for each eligible
LEA have an artificial intelligence weapons detection system, then the department shall
disburse any remaining grant funds to eligible LEAs for other school security purchases,
projects, or measures approved by the department.
(e) The department shall determine the amount of each grant awarded pursuant
to this section, but the department shall disburse one hundred percent (100%) of the
funds appropriated for the pilot program each year in grants to all eligible LEAs.
(f) The pilot program begins with the 2025-2026 school year.
(g) By July 31, 2026, and by each July 31 thereafter until the pilot program
terminates, the department shall submit a report to the general assembly identifying the
number of schools managed and controlled by each eligible LEA's local board of
education that received a grant in the immediately preceding school year, the number of
artificial intelligence weapons detection systems purchased, and the number of schools
in the eligible LEA that do not have an artificial intelligence weapons detection system.
(h) This section is repealed on July 31, 2028.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.