Sponsor
Chuck Fleischmann
Representative · R-TN
Representative · R-TN
The bill directs federal funds to strengthen school security and hire/train responders (including veterans and off‑duty officers) and expands eligibility to private/religious schools—trading potentially faster responses and upgraded infrastructure for greater armed presence and surveillance in schools, uneven training standards, possible diversion of funds from public schools, and added federal spending.
Students, teachers, and school staff can get faster on-site trained responders because the bill funds hiring/training of veterans, former officers, or off‑duty law enforcement and supports state certification pathways for those roles.
Schools (including public, private, and religious) can upgrade physical security—locks, cameras, fencing, lighting, bullet‑resistant materials, and emergency alert systems—using federal grants, reducing local budget pressure for these improvements.
The bill creates flexible certification/licensure options that can help veterans and other qualified personnel transition into school safety roles, supporting veteran employment and state workforce flexibility.
Students and staff may face increased armed presence on campus—if funds support firearm training and hiring former/off‑duty officers—raising risks of accidental shootings, misjudgments, or escalations.
Expanded security infrastructure and surveillance (metal detectors, cameras, fencing) can make schools feel more prison‑like, harming student wellbeing, school climate, and normal school life.
The Attorney General is barred from setting training-content standards, which may lead to inconsistent or low‑quality training across states and uneven safety outcomes.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a DOJ grant program ($900M) to fund State training, hiring of veterans/former/off-duty officers as school safety officers, and physical security upgrades for K–12 schools.
Creates a Department of Justice grant program that funds school security activities for elementary and secondary schools and local educational agencies. Grants may be used to create state training/certification programs and to train, hire, or deploy veterans, former law enforcement, or off-duty officers as school safety officers, and to purchase security infrastructure and technology (metal detectors, fencing, locks, bullet-resistant glass, lighting, emergency alert systems, etc.). The Attorney General must award grants to States and local educational agencies without imposing content or structural requirements on State training/certification programs, and may not block use of funds for the specified activities; the program is open to public and private (including religiously affiliated) schools and authorizes $900 million to carry it out.
Official title: To establish a grant program to improve school security, including by training and hiring veterans and former law enforcement officers as school safety officers, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 27, 2026 by Chuck Fleischmann · Last progress April 27, 2026