Gov. Bill Haslam to participate in school safety summit
Less than 24 hours after he delivers his annual State of the State address in Nashville, Gov. Bill Haslam will participate in a summit to discuss school safety practices in Tennessee.
The summit will take place in Franklin on Tuesday morning. Along with the governor, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and officials from the departments of Homeland Security, Mental Health and Emergency Management will participate in the event, along with representatives from state school districts.
The summit will come just more than one month since the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn. According to a news release, Haslam and officials will discuss possible additional safety measures that could be implemented in schools across the state.
Following the December shooting, Haslam was quoted saying he initially saw "no big need" to change the state's gun laws. Instead, the governor said that addressing mental health issues would be key to preventing a tragedy similar to the one in Newtown.
"I do think addressing the mental health issues is much more the preventive way to do this," Haslam was quoted saying in a Knoxville News Sentinel report. "The answer is not always legislation. The answer is our mental health professionals, our mental health department doing everything they can to prevent and to identify those who need help."
