WSMV4 Investigation reveals incorrect data in state report used to guide school safety decisions [Video]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Over the past couple of years, there have been several disruptive and potentially violent incidents on school campuses in Middle Tennessee that have made headline news.

Those include a 16-year-old Wilson County student getting arrested after deputies found a stolen handgun in his car at Lebanon High School, a student in Nashville getting arrested for bringing a BB gun to school, third graders finding a loaded handgun on a Rutherford County elementary school playground, and a classroom aide getting arrested for allegedly assaulting a student at a Metro Nashville Public Schools’ middle school.

Incidents like those that are related to student safety and welfare are supposed to be recorded by school districts and turned over to the Tennessee Department of Education, which then complies with that data for its annual Safe Schools Report.

Called “serious incidents” these often violent events include guns, weapons and explosives found …