NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As Nashville continues to heal from the Covenant School shooting, the city is planning a series of meetings to discuss school safety and the gun violence epidemic.
Metro Council Public Health & Safety Committee Chair Jeff Syracuse will lead three sessions featuring several safety leaders and advocacy groups, providing opportunities for public engagement. The details of those events are included below:
- Wednesday, June 14 at 4 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Historic Metro Courthouse:
- This special Metro Council Public Health & Safety Committee meeting will be co-hosted with Education Committee Chair Zulfat Suara, focusing on school safety with the Metro Nashville Police Department, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Nashville Fire Department. There will also be gun safety legislation updates from state Reps. Bob Freeman and Caleb Hemmer.
- Wednesday, June 21 at 6 p.m. in the Hillsboro High School Auditorium:
- This will be a moderated panel discussion with Daniel Chapin, founder and president of The Uvalde Foundation For Kids; Moms Demand Action; and Shaundelle Brooks, co-founder and president of the Akilah Dasilva Foundation. Pre-submitted questions from the public will also be featured.
- Wednesday, June 28 at 4 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Historic Metro Courthouse:
- This special Metro Council Public Health & Safety Committee meeting will focus on gun violence as a public health epidemic with the Metro Public Health Department, the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, Metro’s Office of Family Safety, and the Mental Health Cooperative.
Earlier in May, Metro Council failed to pass a motion requesting an immediate review of school security. One argument against it said the motion was too premature.
After the Covenant School shooting, Syracuse said one of the first phone calls he made was to other cities and organizations that have experienced tragedy. He said their advice was to support the community first, and then act.
“I hope what does come out of this is some confidence in leadership, some direction that we can take in a non-profit advocacy way, and then we’ll figure out how we can support our Davidson County delegation when they have the special session in August and what we can do at a local level to support our schools and the public health epidemic of gun violence,” the councilman said.
Syracuse said officials have put a lot of thought into how the sessions will run so all voices are heard and action can happen effectively and efficiently.
“First and foremost, I want parents, families, and especially children to have confidence as they go back to school in August that they know that their leaders across the board are doing absolutely everything they can to keep them safe and that we as a community are doing everything we can about addressing gun violence,” said Syracuse.
Public comment or questions for the June 14 meeting must be submitted no later than noon on Friday, June 9, and can be submitted by clicking here.
