MEMPHIS, Tenn. — During a visit to Memphis Thursday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spoke about school safety amid the continued investigations into threats to Mid-South schools.
Lee joined Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins Thursday morning at Kingsbury’s Career and Technology Center.
While speaking with reporters, Lee said the work is ongoing to make sure students are safe everywhere.
“It's important that we have meaningful conversations around school safety,” said the governor. “The General Assembly has invested heavily in school safety. We’ve worked together and partnered with the locals to make sure that kids that come in this school will go home safely, and schools all across Tennessee, that should be the case.”
Dr. Feagins, who as MSCS superintendent has faced criticism over communication within the district, had this to say when speaking to reporters.
“This is an opportunity to elevate leadership capacity. As I shared with them, we have to trust them to be leaders of leaders, and more importantly, for me to be able to take care of our people,” said Feagins. “Sometimes you have to make real-time decisions that requires us to provide a level of training necessary, consistently and ongoing, because, regardless of how much training you get, a crisis is something you do not experience every day.”
Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins shared a statement early Thursday morning to MSCS parents: "We look forward to seeing our students today. State and federal law enforcement are actively monitoring any information reported about school threats. We increased officer presence to ensure the safety of our students and staff. We will keep you updated if new information is received."
Feagins also posted a Facebook live to parents Thursday afternoon.
Dr. Feagins and MPD Police Chief CJ Davis said Wednesday three students were detained for a threat to Whitehaven, but the investigations were continuing into the reported threats at other schools, including Southwind High, which began the onslaught of reports that led to the lockdown of all MSCS campuses.
Thursday, Feagins said there had been about five arrests so far.
Lee was continuing visits in Memphis Thursday, which included heading to the University of Memphis and a luncheon with law enforcement at the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency.
