ATLANTA – Following the tragic loss of four Georgians during a school shooting at Apalachee High School last September, House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) outlined a list of priorities in a letter to members of the House Majority Caucus that the Georgia House would champion during the 2025 legislative session to secure the safety of our schools and students.
Those priorities are as follows:
First, we will consider measures to implement participation in state-trained student mental health and behavior monitoring services that foster inter-agency communication between school systems, behavioral health professionals and law enforcement.
Second, we will take steps to continue expanding access to mental healthcare for every Georgian, particularly our teens and young adults in schools across the state.
Third, we will evaluate new systems and technologies that may be utilized to detect the presence of firearms before they enter a school building. Investing in infrastructure to continue securing our schools will be integral in preventing future tragedies.
Fourth, we will seek to increase penalties for making terroristic threats in our schools—and make it clear that here in Georgia, threats of violence against our students will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Fifth, we will reintroduce legislation that incentivizes safe storage and encourages law-abiding citizens to properly secure their firearms and obtain gun safety training. Simple measures such as storing guns in lockboxes or equipping firearms with trigger locks has the ability to save lives.
As of today, the House has passed legislation addressing each of these priorities.
“Today’s House passage of HB 79 and HB 268 reaffirms our commitment to protecting Georgia’s children, and to implementing proactive measures that ensure a tragedy like what happened at Apalachee High School never happens in our state again,” said Speaker Jon Burns. “I’m grateful for each member who spent months working alongside our state’s educators, school administration, parents and law enforcement to craft these policies that will have a positive impact on Georgia’s students for generations to come.”
House Bill 67 – Amended Fiscal Year 2025 Budget
- Provides an additional $50 million for school safety grants, giving each public school in Georgia $68,000 for school safety measures this year alone.
House Bill 79 – Safe Storage Tax Incentives
- Provides for a tax credit of up to $300 for certain eligible expenses incurred for firearm safe handling instructional courses and firearm secure storage devices.
House Bill 268 – Comprehensive School Safety Plan
- Requires all relevant student records to be shared with the receiving school within a given time when a student transfers between school districts.
- Creates a Student and School Safety System (S3) which will be used to store information related to credible threats against Georgia’s schools and students.
- Requires schools to adopt Behavioral Threat Assessment Teams.
- Requires schools to utilize an anonymous reporting app that meets certain standards.
- Creates mental health coordinator positions for each school district to connect students facing a mental health challenge with available resources.
- HB 268 increases penalties for terroristic threats and requires schools to suspend and provide counseling to students who make credible threats.
For more information regarding the House’s school safety measures, please visit the following link:
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