FRANKFORT, Ky. — Six years after a Marshall County teenager shot and killed two of his fellow students, injuring more than a dozen others, state lawmakers are working to prevent another tragedy like that from happening again.

What You Need To Know

  • Senate Bill 2 was filed Thursday

  • It would expand safety and security measures at school

  • Certain people would be allowed to carry firearms and assist or supplement a student resource officer

  • The bill also focuses on student mental health

State Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, filed Senate Bill 2 Thursday, which expands his 2019 measure that created the School Safety and Resiliency Act.

“We've seen situations since the Marshall County event," Wise said. "We’ve seen Uvalde; we’ve also seen, in Nashville, the Covenant School as well." 

SB 2 would allow retired police officers, Kentucky State Police (KSP) troopers, federal agents and veterans to serve in a position similar to a school resource officer (SRO).

As part of the "Kentucky Guardian" program, those individuals could provide extra security to campuses. Since these people would not be sworn officers, they would not be able to arrest anyone; however, they would be allowed to conceal carry a firearm. They would also be required to take some of the required SRO training.

“Each school district would have the opportunity to decide about that guardian, if they wish to have a guardian or not," Wise said. "There's nothing mandating that you must have a guardian. There's also not a mandate of how many guardians a campus could have within a school district." 

Wise added this is to help districts who don’t have enough SROs for their campuses. A 2023 report by the Office of the State School Security Marshal found only about half of all Kentucky schools have an assigned student resource officer.

“The Guardian program is not replacing the school resource officers,” Wise said. “It is an additional layer approach [to] school safety.”

SB 2 also would create a statewide mapping system of Kentucky schools available only to law enforcement.

The bill also focuses on a trauma-informed approach to student mental health and mandates increasing suicide prevention resources.

“They will be collecting data: data with students, data about mental illness, trauma that has been caused ... in our students across the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Wise said.

The Kentucky Department of Education would be required to annually report that data on student mental health to lawmakers.

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