A Scott County lawmaker says teachers deserve more protection against violence in the classroom.

Republican State Senator Matt Nunn has a plan to toughen penalties against students, and they could face that they could face for acting out against educators.

Our Emily Sisk sat down with the lawmaker to discuss what he called, quote, common sense legislation.

That just House Republican Senator Matt Nunn filed Senate Bill 101 last week.

The bill is meant to protect educators against violence from students.

And he touts another big benefit.

This is absolutely necessary to ensure that we can recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers in our Commonwealth.

They play a critical role for our young people, for our Commonwealth as a whole.

And so we've got to make sure we got the best and brightest doing that.

And one way to do that is ensure they feel safe.

And we're at work and right now I'm hear from teachers that say they don't feel safe and they get to go to work every day.

And that's not okay.

You and I want to feel safe and go to work.

The people that are watching this want to feel safe when they go to work.

And so teachers should have that same, same feel of safety.

Nunn shared what he's heard firsthand from a family friend who works as a teacher.

She's kind of a small stature person and and she said, you know, man, I got boys your size in my class.

And I'm, you know, I'm sitting down here, but I'm 630, about 235 to 40.

And she said, they have no respect for authority, no fear of consequences.

And she said, I've seen it.

I've heard, you know.

So she was she worried, feared for her safety every day.

And I heard more and more stories about that as I campaigned in this summer and fall, I visited a lot of schools, and I heard more and more concerns from teachers and administrators.

So what would Senate Bill 101 do?

It would mandate a 12 month expulsion for any student who physically injures an educator or other attempts of assault on school staff must be reported, and failure to report could result in criminal penalties.

For students aged 14 and up, the county attorney could choose to prosecute them as an adult for third degree felony assault.

Number one, it will require a 12 month expulsion for any teacher, that or any student that does this.

And that's not a requirement.

Today we require it.

If a student brings a weapon to school or makes threats about something like that, but not if they assault a teacher.

If a county attorney chooses not to charge a student for whatever reason, I want to make sure that student's not back in the classroom the next week or the next day.

The safety Bill Republican also shared a statistic provided by the Kentucky Education Association about how many instances of assaults against teachers have recently occurred.

The spokesperson said there have been since 2021, there have been 25,000 instances of assault against teachers.

None was also certain to point out that while this bill is mostly focused toward teachers who typically need the most protection, the bill applies to all school staff members.

This bill would extend to any school employee.

So bus drivers, cafeteria workers, whomever it is, if you're if you're working in our schools and, you know, serving our young people, helping them grow and learn, you deserve to be protected.

So this isn't just teachers.

This is all the folks known.

Said.

The response on social media and throughout the General Assembly has been overwhelmingly positive, with some pointing out this bill would protect teachers instead of putting up more red tape.

But I did.

I heard on Facebook someone comment and said, finally, a pro teacher bill.

The Senate bill was numbered 101 because none said it's common sense legislation for Kentucky edition.

I'm Emily Sisk.

Thank you Emily.

Senate Bill 101 would build on legislation from 2024, which made any assault against a health care worker in a health care setting a felony.

The bill is expected to be picked up and considered in a Senate committee.