NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's education commissioner says the state has more than twice the national average of cases involving students bringing firearms to school.
Candice McQueen says Tennessee had 7.5 incidents per 100,000 students in the 2015-16 school year; the national average is 3.1 incidents.
The Tennessean reports that McQueen also says 10 percent of high school students report being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the last year.
The education department's director of conditions for learning, Mike Herrmann, says the state also has fewer than one specially trained law enforcement officer per 100 students.
Gov. Bill Haslam told his all-Republican school safety task force on Thursday that he hopes they can resolve the school resource officer issue this legislative session.