ATLANTA – State Representative Devan Seabaugh (R-Marietta) recently partnered with Cobb County School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to introduce a new component to the district’s school safety efforts. This new safety strategy aims to enhance school security, ensuring safer environments for students, staff and the entire school community.
“Superintendent Ragsdale and I were brainstorming on how we could take school safety to the next level in Cobb,” said Rep. Seabaugh. “The school system already has strong measures in place – armed school resource officers, security cameras, controlled access points, secure vestibules, classroom door locks, perimeter fencing, active shooter training, fire drills and an emergency notification system. Additionally, students can anonymously report unsafe situations through a safe school hotline, allowing for immediate and appropriate action. But we wanted to go further to try to identify, monitor and stop potential threats before they even approach our schools. I was able to connect the superintendent with highly trained intelligence officials I’ve collaborated with on other projects to explore how cutting-edge technology might be utilized to proactively identify potential threats to school safety. It is certainly a step in the right direction in helping keep our kids, teachers and staff safe, and along with the safety measures already in place I think this approach could serve as a model program for other school districts across the state.”
“This marks the beginning of a new era in school safety for the Cobb County School District,” said Superintendent Ragsdale. “Thanks to Representative Seabaugh and the appropriations from the state for the purpose of enhancing school safety, we are in a position to take school security to the next level. If adding these tools can stop even one threat to a school before it starts, they will be worth it.”
The Cobb County School District has brought together a team of experts from the intelligence community to initially conduct a safety assessment at three local Cobb County schools. Their recommendations will provide new strategies to detect, monitor and prevent potential threats, such as gang-related activities, cyber exploitation or other threats to school safety.
Representative Devan Seabaugh represents the citizens of District 34, which includes portions of Cobb County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Industry & Labor Committee and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health. He also serves on the Code Revision, Creative Arts & Entertainment, Public Health and Transportation committees.
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