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Georgia Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, unveiled a school safety plan Monday that he says puts Georgia students and schools first by providing critical resources and reforms needed to ensure every child has an opportunity to learn in a secure environment. Burns has listed school safety as a priority issue for this session since the mass shooting at Apalachee High School last September when two students and two teachers were killed.

Burns was joined on the staircase in the Capitol by Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Mulberry, Rep. Holt Persinger, R-Winder, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith, Barrow County School System Superintendent Dr. Dallas LeDuff and the family of Coach Richard Aspinwall – the coach killed in the shooting as he unveiled his comprehensive school safety plan.

“Last year, our state witnessed an unimaginable tragedy at Apalachee High School when four Georgians were lost at the hands of an individual whose intent was to carry out a despicable act of evil,” said Burns. “The Georgia House is committed to taking strong action to ensure no parent, student or teacher ever has to fear for their safety when they drop their children off at school, go to class or go to work.”

Burns referred to the safety plan as a “comprehensive approach to securing our school buildings, prioritizing the mental health of our children and keeping Georgia’s students safe.”

The plan mandates schools to participate in a statewide student information sharing database, which will be operated by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. According to Burns, the School and Student Safety Database will be used to collect and integrate data to evaluate the behavior of students who could pose a threat to schools, staff or students while maintaining the highest standards of student information privacy.

Other highlights of the plan:

● It ensures local school systems implement a threat management team consisting of school administration, mental health professionals and law enforcement personnel and provides technical assistance for local school systems to develop policies and procedures for their threat management teams.

● It requires schools to utilize an anonymous reporting app where tips can quickly and efficiently be evaluated and provided to law enforcement and the necessary personnel across the state as needed.

● Builds on prior state investments in school safety resources by providing an additional $50 million for one-time school safety grants for every public school across the state and allocating appropriations for the development of the database.

● Creates qualified mental health coordinator positions to allow for an individual to be primarily responsible for coordinating efforts to identify and intervene with students who are at risk of mental health concerns. Students will also be required to receive instruction in violence prevention and suicide awareness.

● Implements mandatory suspension for students who make threats until law enforcement and school personnel determine the student is cleared to return to school. This approach balances the immediate need to secure the safety and security of other students with the need to provide discretion to law enforcement and school systems.

● Provides voluntary tax incentives for the purchase of safe storage equipment including firearm safes and trigger locks as well as for gun safety training and courses. This encourages responsible firearm ownership practices while protecting the Second Amendment rights of Georgia’s citizens.