State officials are rolling out a new school safety plan that will impact how the Gilmer County School System manages threats in the future.
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns unveiled the plan last week, along with Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, Rep. Holt Persinger and officials from Barrow County, where a school shooting took place in September.
“The Georgia House is committed to taking strong action to ensure no parent, student or teacher ever has to fear for their safety,” Burns stated. “This school safety plan is a comprehensive approach to securing our school buildings, prioritizing the mental health of our children and keeping Georgia’s students safe.”
These new requirements for state school systems are in response to the events that occurred at Apalachee High School, where two students and two teachers were killed and nine others were injured.
Investigators said a 14-year-old student brought a gun to school and opened fire, raising concerns over how this was even possible with Barrow families continuing to push for stronger safety measures, according to FOX5.
The shooting also sparked copycat threats across the state in the weeks after, where Gilmer County officials stayed on high alert and local schools were under a ‘secure’ designation to address any possible issues.
GCSS Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley and Sheriff Stacy Nicholson attended a listening session with state legislatures and officials from other counties, after the Apalachee shooting. There, they discussed strategies and pitched ideas to implement better safety practices in schools.
“You can see the results of those conversations in the proposed legislation,” Dr. Ridley said. “There’s some really good ideas here. I think it’ll all come down to implementation and staffing, but we’re very encouraged by some of the progress that we’re seeing on the legislative front.”
A press release issued by the House reports the plan mandates the use of a new Student Information Sharing and Safety Database (S3), requires threat assessment teams to be implemented and requires schools to utilize an anonymous reporting app.
It also is working to address physical security infrastructure needs, increases penalties for individuals who make terroristic threats and incentivizes responsible firearm ownership practices.
Ridley explained that some of the safety measures in this plan are already in place for Gilmer schools, including their threat assessment team that meets quarterly. They also already enforce vigorous punishments and suspensions for students that make ‘terroristic’ threats.
He added that they will welcome any training or support that would come through these bills, noting that school safety funding is something they’ve lobbied for for a while.
The new plan would build on prior state investments in safety resources by providing an additional $50 million for one-time grants for every public school across the state and allocating funds to develop the S3 Database.
“That’s a game changer for us because traditionally, school safety has been on the backs of local taxpayers and ESPLOST funds, so it’s great to see the state recognizing the importance of school safety and getting in behind us to support those efforts,” Ridley voiced.
Once developed, the S3 Database will be used to collect and integrate data, to evaluate the behavior of students who may pose a threat, while keeping information private.
This would allow student data to be transferred between school systems, law enforcement and mental health professionals, to make sure they receive the resources they need no matter where they are in the state.
“I don’t want the public to get a false sense of security by thinking that that’s something that could just materialize, there is no such system,” Ridley added. “So they’d have to develop that over time, but I think long term that’s an effort that could produce some good results and make our schools a little safer.”
The plan will create mental health coordinator positions as well, who will be better prepared to intervene with students who are at risk mentally, and requires student instruction on violence prevention and suicide awareness.
It also will provide voluntary tax incentives for the purchase of safe storage equipment and gun safety training, to encourage responsible firearm ownership practices.
When asked if he has any concerns with this new plan, Ridley said, “A great bill can really be hamstrung with a faulty implementation. As long as our state leaders keep their eyes on the how, I think we will be in good shape. I think there’s a lot of potential in these ideas.”