Gov. According to Brian Kemp’s announcement on Monday, he intends to invest an additional$ 50 million into Georgia’s schools for school security this year.
School security in Georgia will also be a major concern in next month’s budget and proposed legislation, according to Kemp, who spoke at a press conference at the Georgia Capitol on the first day of the 2025 congressional program.
One of the ways that state officials are making good on claims made in the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting in the fall is the spending plan, which brings the total give quantity for fiscal year 2025 to practically$ 69, 000 per class.
” As all of us remember, the horrific tragedy last year put all of these investments to test”, Kemp said about the worst school shooting in Georgia’s history. A 14-year-old student is accused of , shooting and killing , two students and two teachers at Apalachee High in Barrow County. Since then, state leaders have released a number of recommendations to enhance school safety in the state.
According to Kemp, the additional grant funding totals$ 158 million in school security grants distributed statewide this fiscal year.
Kemp also intends to fund crisis counseling training for existing school staff, and to allocate nearly$ 900, 000 to improve the ratio of school psychologists. The National Association of School Psychologists , recommends , one per every 500 students. In Georgia, the ratio is one psychologist per 2, 077 students, which is among the worst ratios in the country. Other state leaders have emphasized that mental health services are a part of school security.
Kemp was joined by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, at the news conference Monday. Jones said he would prioritize the final passage of” Alyssa’s Law”, which would require schools to have  , panic buttons. Barrow County schools had purchased , crisis alert badges , before the September shooting.
Though Alyssa’s Law did not pass in the House of Representatives, Jones said he expects it will be successful in the coming year.
In September, Burns , endorsed , efforts to expand mental health care access, offer incentives for gun safety purchases and toughen penalties against people who make , terroristic threats. More recently he , suggested , using money from speeding cameras around school zones to fund safety measures.
According to Burns,” I’ve made it clear to the House that we leave no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring our students can learn in a safe and secure environment.”
Kemp has suggested fully funding the security grants again this year, but they are never a guarantee because they are outside the state’s education funding formula.
DeKalb and Gwinnett counties are among the largest school systems in the metro area, and some are asking for a change in the state funding formula to provide more money to students who live in poverty. Amending the , behemoth formula , has long been a topic of discussion at the Gold Dome. But this could be the year for modernization, House Education Committee Chairman , Chris Erwin , said in a panel hosted by the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education last week. He acknowledged that it would be a” steep mountain to climb.”
Kemp also proposed an additional$ 10.3 million for student transportation, which is often a stressor for school systems. Transportation costs are rising, but state funding has not. In 2021, the state funded roughly a quarter of , transportation costs , for metro Atlanta school systems.
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