ATLANTA — Georgia State Schools Superintendent Dr. Richard Woods announced Monday he’d be seeking legislation in the next session to include funds for crisis alert systems in all state schools and additional school resource officers.
The state comes in direct response to the tragedy at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, where 14-year-old student Colt Gray shot and killed four students and faculty and injured nine others.
“As we reflect on the tragedy at Apalachee High School, it is crucial that we redouble our efforts to secure our schools and protect every student in our state,” Woods said. “In the upcoming legislative session, I will advocate for the state budget to include additional state funding for school safety, with the goal of providing a School Resource Officer and a crisis alert system in every Georgia school.”
Woods said the state’s strong commitment to school safety had included common-sense measures to increase security at schools throughout Georgia, and is now seeking a line-item funding additional measures.
In addition to the extra resources and the crisis alert system, Woods said he’ll be advocating for the development of “a clear school safety plan in collaboration with local law enforcement and emergency management teams,” saying that having “an SRO and crisis alert system should be the standard for every school in Georgia.”
Woods also said he’d be requesting the expansion of Georgia’s APEX mental health program in state schools and would push to “enact policies that support more timely and effective sharing of reports, records and alerts among law enforcement, school districts and across agencies.”
He ended his letter announcing these policy goals by saying he was confident it could be achieved in the 2025 legislative session.