THE GIST

ATLANTA — Georgia K-12 public schools have been conducting informal active shooter drills for years, just like they have for fire, tornadoes and other emergencies. But earlier this year, state lawmakers made the safety precaution against active shooters and other intruders mandatory. 

Gov. Brian Kemp signed The Safe Schools Act into law in April and it took effect July 1. Under the new law, elementary, middle and high schools must perform at least one active shooter or intruder drill by Oct. 1 each school year. Fire drills, by comparison, are done within the first 10 days of the new school year and subsequently once a month throughout the school year. 

What’s Happening

 The Safe Schools Act was created to improve school safety and includes a series of requirements and options. The law calls for:

• Schools to report completion of drills to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
• Schools to create a school safety plan to reduce “the growing incidence of violence” in schools.  
• Creation of a state-approved school safety and anti-gang program that train teachers who volunteer for the training to identify gang members. The program must be created by year-end. It’s a controversial provision that critics say could lead to racial profiling. Supporters say it would help educators spot potential threats inside the classroom. 
• Giving parents the option to keep their children from participating in intruder alert drills. The request must be in writing.

The law defines an intruder alert drill “as a set of procedures designed to familiarize occupants of a building with ways to protect themselves against potential threats posed by an intruder who possesses or is suspected of possessing a weapon.” 

The head of one teachers’ group said the law is a good start but it doesn’t address the daily occurrence of fights among students, assaults against teachers and other incidents.

“Educators are obviously concerned about safety for ourselves and our students. There’s always that concern in the back of your head, you know, at any time, something horrific, like an active shooter can happen,” Lisa Morgan, president of the 26,000-member-plus Georgia Association of Educators, told State Affairs. “But the reality is that, day-to-day, the concerns for safety are a different concern. There’s violence in our schools, coming from our communities that’s not to the level of somebody having a gun and their shooting, but there’s still the safety risk to students and educators.’

Morgan experienced one intruder incident early in her career, which spans two decades in the DeKalb County school system. No one was hurt and it was a domestic violence dispute involving a teacher.

Some 41% of more than 5,600 teachers surveyed last year cited student behavior as a top reason they’re leaving the profession, according to the Professional Association of Georgia Educators’ “Views from the School House: Insights from Georgia Educators 2022” report.

 “That’s the problem that we’re not really talking about and we’re not really addressing because complex issues, such as violence in our communities, it’s not an easy thing,” Morgan added. “There’s not a way to say, ‘Oh, do this and you’re going to be safe.’ It’s a complex issue. And it’s going to take more complex solutions. So it hasn’t been getting the attention it really needs.”

Why It Matters

Morgan said the disciplinary problems and ensuing tension in schools are a reflection of what’s occurring in the surrounding communities. 

“We’re seeing increased violence in our community. And that’s trickling into our schools,” she said. “It’s something that we’re seeing not just in Georgia, but across the country. School discipline is a major issue and has become more of an issue since the pandemic.”

School systems need more mental health professionals, Morgan said, to deal with growing disciplinary problems.

“We need more counselors. We need more social workers. We need school psychologists that can actually work with students and not just do testing,” she said.

What’s Next?

The new law has officially launched now that the new school year is underway.

Practiced drills are different from stark reality. Many people who’ve trained for such emergencies often freeze or flee when faced with real-life situations. 

During the 2021-22 school year, school shootings in the U.S. set a record for the second year in a row, according to federal data released this month. There were 188 shootings with casualties at public and private elementary schools. Nearly 7 in 10 of the incidents caused injuries; 57 led to deaths. The previous year’s record of 93 was the highest in 20 years, the report noted.

Seventh-grader Thailand Bellille’s school Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy, a pre-K to 8th grade STEM school in Atlanta, has not had an active shooter drill yet but Bellille says he’s willing to participate.

“I’d do it,” the 12-year-old told State Affairs. When he sees school shootings on television, he said he often wonders, “how can I escape or get protection?” 

His mother, Sherry, agrees the training is necessary for Thailand, the youngest of her four children.“ I want him to be prepared to know what he’s doing,” she said. “Our kids need to be trained to know what to do in times like that.”

@stateaffairsga

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Header image: Sherry Bellille and son Thailand attend a school event at Hollis Innovation Academy in Atlanta. (Credit: Sherry Bellille)