New and Additional Resources

Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-817 requires that each public school operated by an LEA, public charter school, private school, and church related school shall ensure that all exterior doors leading into a school building are always locked and access to the buildings is limited to the school’s primary entrance. Outside or regular hours, the primary entrance can be unlocked if continuously monitored by a school or LEA employee who is physically present at the door to ensure access is limited to only authorized persons and will alert others if an unauthorized person enters.

State and local law enforcement are authorized to inspect a door serving as an entrance to or exit from a school building to determine whether the door is locked as required. There is no limit to the number of inspections law enforcement personnel may conduct. If law enforcement personnel find that the door to an entrance or exit from a school building is unlocked, the school must immediately lock the door and the law enforcement that found the unlocked door shall, within twenty-four (24) hours, send written notification to:

• The LEA’s director of schools or the leader of the public charter school as applicable;
• The chair of the local board of education or public charter school governing body, as applicable;
• The head of the parent-teacher organization for the LEA or public charter school, if there is such an organization for the public charter school;
• The school principal;
• The department of safety - (Homeland.Security@tn.gov);
• The department of education - (Door.Safety@tn.gov); and
• Each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction.

The LEA’s director of schools, the leader of the public charter school, or their respective designees, shall within forty-eight (48) hours of receiving notification from the law enforcement agency send written confirmation to the notifying law enforcement agency that the door was immediately locked as required and that processes are in place to ensure that the door remains locked as required. The director, leader or their respective designee shall send a copy of the written confirmation to the recipients listed above. The written confirmation must state whether the LEA or public charter school has a full-time school resource officer whose primary location is the school found to be in violation.

Information about more than one exterior door lock violation can be found here.