Day 26: Focus on School Safety As Crossover Approaches
- Legislative Team
- Mar 3
- 5 min read
The House and Senate agreed to the AFY 2025 budget, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp's desk for signature.
By a 32-23 vote, the Senate approved SB 74 by Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania), which would subject librarians to criminal prosecution for knowingly distributing harmful materials to minors. The bill provides an affirmative defense to librarians and everyone employed in a public library who make a good-faith effort to identify all physical and electronic materials deemed harmful to minors and remove them from their access. SB 74 now moves to the House for consideration.
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House Ed Passes School Safety Bill
The House Education Committee approved HB 268 by Rep. Holt Persinger (R-Winder), creating a statewide student information database run by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) to improve information sharing between school systems, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. HB 268 requires school systems to create threat management teams, include behavioral threat assessment management plans in school safety plans, and requires that students receive instruction on violence prevention and suicide awareness. Other provisions include creation of mental health coordinator positions, tax incentives for firearm storage equipment, and increased penalties for students who make terroristic threats.
During the meeting, Rep. Lydia Glaize (D-Fairburn) proposed an amendment to require the Office of Safe Schools to develop an appeal process for students to be removed from the S3 Database. The amendment passed. Rep. Phil Olaleye (D-Atlanta) proposed an amendment to remove the anonymous requirement from the bill's reporting app. He asked that the reports not be private so that students who have a complaint lodged against them can know who reported them. He said the amendment is intended to disincentivize false reports. The amendment failed.
The committee approved the bill by voice vote, with several dissenting votes. The bill now moves to the House Rules Committee.
Senate Judiciary Approves Competing School Safety Bills
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed two school-safety related bills, both of which now move to Senate Rules.
SB 61 by Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Alpharetta) expands the jurisdiction of superior courts to some offenses committed by children ages 13 to 17, such as terroristic threats or acts involving schools. The bill repeals a provision that limited superior court jurisdiction over aggravated assault cases involving firearms against public safety officers. SB 61 mandates that academic and disciplinary records of transferring students be provided to receiving schools, reducing the time frame for parents to receive these records. The legislation establishes a misdemeanor offense for parents who fail to disclose required student information and outlines penalties for such violations.
Relatedly, SB 179 by Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Buford) mandates that academic and disciplinary records of transferring students be provided to the receiving school within five days (down from 10). It also requires law enforcement to report encounters with school-age youth to school officials and parents within seven days of a felony arrest. SB 179 mandates that students in grades six through 12 receive at least one hour of suicide and violence prevention training annually, starting in the 2026-2027 school year. The legislation establishes a statewide anonymous reporting program to facilitate the reporting of dangerous or threatening activities related to schools.
Late Push for Legislation in Senate Ed
As the time to approve bills ahead of the Crossover Day deadline dwindles, the Senate Education & Youth Committee approved a slate of bills, all of which now move to Senate Rules:
SB 82 by Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) seeks to promote local approval of charter schools by creating an incentive grant program overseen by the State Charter Schools Commission. Local school districts would receive grant funds when they approve charter schools. Conversely, if districts deny local charter petitions, they must provide written notice. If districts deny multiple petitions that are subsequently approved by the state, districts would not be able to renew their strategic waivers for three years or until the State Board of Education (SBOE) determines local boards have demonstrated "commitment to increasing student performance and encouraging innovation through high-quality local charter petition authorizations.” This provision would not apply to districts with fewer than 10,000 students.
SB 171 by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) would require the SBOE to develop an advanced mathematics pathway for grades three through eight. Students participating in the pathway must complete a high school-level mathematics course in middle school.
SB 93 by Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta) bans the practice of three-cueing, which Kemp described as “reading by guessing.” The substitute version of the bill Kemp presented in committee would allow an exception for nonverbal students if visual cues are part of their IEP and if a parent consents to their inclusion. The substitute version also allows for pictures and visual information to be used to help build context, vocabulary, and comprehension. Finally, Kemp said he worked with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) on a bill provision requiring that teacher preparation programs do not train teacher candidates on three-cueing as a primary reading instruction method.
SB 65, by Sen. Derrick Mallow (D-Savannah), makes kindergarten mandatory in Georgia. Sen. Ed Setlzer (R-Acworth) expressed concern that the bill offers a large policy shift that would infringe on parents' rights to choose when their child enters the school system. The bill passed with two dissenting votes.
SB 295 by Sen. Anavitarte requires local school districts to maintain a registry of all contracts worth $10,000 or more.
Ways and Means Expands SSO Voucher
The House Ways and Means Committee passed HB 328 by Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton), expanding the cap on Georgia's tuition tax Student Scholarship Organization (SSO) program which currently diverts $100 million from the state general fund to private school vouchers. The legislation expands the cap to $140 million and now moves to House Rules.
Senate Higher Ed Approves School DEI Prohibition
The Senate Higher Ed Committee passed SB 120 by Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), which would prohibit public K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, trainings, recruitment, or retention activities. State or federal funding could be withheld from institutions violating the prohibition. Before passing the bill along to Senate Rules, the committee amended the legislation to remove applicability to private higher education institutions.
Compromise Version of Senate Speed Camera Bill Approved by Committee
The Senate Public Safety Committee passed a substitute of SB 75 by Sen. Max Burns (R-Sylvania). The version passed by the committee restricts use of school zone speed cameras to two hours per day, which can be allocated at the school's discretion. It mandates standards for the posting of warning signs. The official text of this version of SB 75 is not yet available.
Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday, March 4 - Legislative Day 27
Senate Ed & Youth Committee, 2 p.m., 450 CAP
Wednesday, March 5 - Committee Workday
House Ed Committee, 9 a.m., 506 CLOB
Thursday, March 6 - Legislative Day 28/Crossover