On the same day that State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives, they voted, along with State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knox County), against a school safety bill that overwhelmingly passed the legislative body.
The trio and State Representative Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) were the only House legislators that voted against House Bill 0322.
The explicit purpose of that bill is to make Tennessee’s schools safer.
The bill explains:
Under present law, the commissioner of education must establish a state-level safety team to assist LEAs and schools with compliance with the requirements of the SAVE Act. As part of the assistance, the state-level safety team must publish a template for use by districts in preparing their district-level safety plans and building-level emergency response plans, which template must outline the responsibilities of the LEAs and individual schools in complying. The state-level safety team must regularly review and update the template. The commissioner must appoint the members of the safety team, including a representative of each of the following:
(1) The department of safety;
(2) TBI;
(3) Homeland security;
(4) The department of mental health and substance abuse services;
(5) The emergency medical services of the department of health;
(6) The state board of education;
(7) The Tennessee association of school resource officers; and
(8) The department of intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Present law authorizes, but does not require, the commissioner to appoint representatives of additional groups and cohorts to the state-level safety team.
This amendment requires the commissioner of safety, instead of the commissioner of education, to establish a state-level safety team. This amendment changes the member described in (1) to be a representative of the department of education. This amendment adds that the commissioner must appoint a representative of the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association, and a representative of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police to the team.
This amendment transfers responsibility for directing the state-level safety team from the director of the Tennessee school safety center to the commissioner of safety.
Just a week prior, Jones, Pearson and Johnson led a riot inside the Tennessee State Capitol, demanding gun control, which they say will make schools safer.
They were unwilling to accept any form of compromise on school safety.
Later in the meeting, both Pearson and Jones were expelled from the legislature.
Both were subsequently reinstated this week.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson” by Fisk University.
