(Georgia Recorder) — Fears over unmonitored doors, crowded hallways and a lack of escape routes. That’s how Apalachee High School junior Sasha Contreras described Monday’s return to classes before the Barrow County school board members Tuesday.
“With our lives at risk, it’s unacceptable that safety is not being prioritized immediately,” she said. “School is a crucial stepping stone to believing and becoming. It is the first milestone in our lives as a society and is the foundation of today. It should be the last place such violence occurs. It should not be a place of constant worry, fear, and anxiety looming in the back of our heads.”
On Wednesday, an Apalachee student was arrested on campus after reports were made that he had a gun, according to multiple news outlets. No one was hurt in Wednesday’s incident, but parents took to social media to express frustration with the situation.
September’s deadly shooting at Apalachee reignited scrutiny on safety in Georgia schools, and legislators are promising efforts at protecting students in the state when the annual lawmaking session begins Monday.
“You’ll see us very early on increase school safety measures,” said House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, at a pre-session press conference Wednesday.
“We have some good ideas there,” he added. “We’re learning from some of the issues we have had in the past. We know that technology will play a part of that. We know that funding – and I’m proud of the funding that we’ve provided by local school systems to help implement school safety measures in those schools, and that will be on an ongoing basis, and I think you’ll see some more of that funding continue to make sure that secure school system is in place, school surrounding environment is in place for our students.”
Since 2019, the state has allocated $294.07 million specifically towards school safety grants, according to the governor’s office, and the fiscal year 2025 budget, passed before the shooting, included $108.9 million for districts to dedicate to safety efforts.
When questioned, Burns also indicated interest in reviving a measure that passed the House last year 162-3 but stalled out in the Senate. It aimed to provide a tax credit of up to $300 for gun safety devices like safes and trigger locks.
“I’ll tell you first and foremost that we will not impede the Second Amendment rights of Georgians, let’s make that clear,” he said. “That’s been said, that we would like to do that. That’s not the case. But I will tell you that we passed a good gun safety bill this past year. That had to do with tax credits that if you would like to take advantage of it for trigger locks or gun safes, you’re welcome to do that. We think that’s a reasonable opportunity for Georgians and we’ll go back and look at that.”
Separately, the Senate passed a bill authored by Marietta Republican Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick that would have made those products tax exempt, but that bill didn’t make it through the House.
“The House didn’t like it because they wanted it to start on their side, and they took a different approach,” Kirkpatrick said Wednesday following a school safety panel near the Capitol. “They took a tax credit approach. That got caught up in last-day stuff and didn’t get through, but I’m optimistic that it will this year.”
If those two options are different varieties of carrot, lawmakers could also consider the use of a stick. Johns Creek Democratic Rep. Michelle Au said she plans to bring back legislation that would seek to encourage safe gun storage by imposing a fine of up to $5,000 to people who negligently store firearms that are used by a minor to cause death or serious injury. The bill includes exceptions, including if the child used the gun in self defense or got it by breaking into a home.
“While it’s viewed as a partisan issue, the majority of residents in Georgia, the majority of voters in Georgia, actually do want more movement on gun safety legislation. So our inability to address this in a meaningful good faith way actually is a demonstration that we may not be doing our jobs,” Au said.
Lawmakers previously took up Au’s measure for discussion in the House Public Safety and Homeland Security 2-A Subcommittee, though it did not come to a vote, but gun safety advocates called the hearing alone a major win in Georgia’s GOP-controlled legislature.
Au, who is also a physician, said guns are the No. 1 cause of death for kids and teenagers in the U.S., and this year, she is pushing for her bill to get a vote in the House Public Health Committee.
“This is clearly a public health issue,” she said. “It is in fact a public health crisis that we are not addressing. So in order to talk about it in the way that this issue fairly deserves to be discussed, which is not as a political issue, but as a health issue, I think that’s going to be the fairest way to have this discussion and to move the issue forward.”
“The next step is that we have to vote on it, and let the bill survive or fail on its merits,” she added. “I think that would be the next step that I would like to see this session, is to let this bill come to a vote, and if it fails, OK. But you have to let people weigh in on it and we have to show voters that we care enough about this issue to at least put it to a vote.”
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, a Columbus Democrat, said she wants to see gun storage legislation this year and shouted out Au’s approach.
“I think that it’s something that we’re going to definitely have to continue to pursue,” she said. “When you look at the stats in terms of how many children are affected by gun violence each and every year, we cannot pretend that it’s not a real thing. And of course we’re in the minority, we’re not driving the agenda, but we’re hearing from our constituents, and it is our responsibility to bring these things to the table.”
In addition to gun storage and funding for personnel and equipment, lawmakers are also discussing measures including addressing students’ mental health needs, especially those exacerbated by social media, and the need to increase communication between school districts and other government agencies.
The suspect in the Apalachee shooting was allegedly interviewed by the FBI in connection with shooting threats at a different school more than a year before the attack, but the school said it was not notified when he transferred to Apalachee shortly before the shooting, according to multiple outlets.
“It is something that can change, you know, whether it takes legislation or something at the local level,” said state Superintendent Richard Woods. “There’s nothing to say we can’t have something before a child steps onto the campus that their records have to be present, and to be honest, in today’s society, everything is electronic, so it shouldn’t take but just a click of a button here or there.”
