by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia Board of Education has adopted a requirement aimed at ensuring cooperation between local school systems and public safety experts in the design of school safety policies and infrastructure.
Under an amended rule the state board approved, local boards of education must consult with their municipal or county law enforcement officials, or with emergency management agencies when designing new facilities to house public school students.
“The safety of our students is our highest priority,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said Friday. “By setting the expectation that all local school systems collaborate with law enforcement and emergency management professionals, we are taking an essential step toward ensuring that our schools are designed with safety in mind from the ground up.”
The amended rule is expected to allow local school systems to incorporate such security measures as secure entry points, effective surveillance systems, and safe school evacuation routes.
Gov. Brian Kemp is asking the General Assembly to provide an additional $50 million in state grants to improve security in Georgia schools. The added funding would bring the total for the current fiscal year to $158 million.
School security has taken on a greater sense of urgency in Georgia since last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder killed two students and two teachers. A 14-year-old student at the school, Colt Gray, was arrested at the scene and charged in the murders.
