ATLANTA– Georgia’s state schools chief says he wants the state to spend more money to provide safety officers and portable panic buttons after a school shooting four dead at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta.
Richard Woods, a Republican elected statewide, also said Monday he wants to expand a state-sponsored program to provide mental health services to students and to better share threat information among police, schools and other agencies.
“It is critical that we redouble our efforts to secure our schools and protect every student in our state,” Woods said in a statement.
Woods is the second state leader to make proposals after the the September 4 shooting at high school in Winder. His ideas about expanding mental health care and sharing information reflect those pronounced last week by Republican House Speaker Jon Burns of Newington.
Gov. Brian Kemp has said he will review all proposals, but said the investigation is still yielding new information. A spokesman for the Republican Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones said he was preparing an answer.
Democrats have criticized Republicans, claiming the shooting was an outgrowth of the GOP loosens gun laws in GeorgiaWoods did not propose any changes to gun laws.
Teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, and students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, died in the shootingNine others were injured, seven of whom were shot.
Investigators say the shooting was carried out by 14-year-old Colt Gray, who has been charged as an adult with four counts of murder. Authorities charged his 54-year-old father, Colin Graywith second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. Investigators allege Colin Gray gave his son access to a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle when he knew the teen was a danger to himself and others.
Woods’ call for information sharing reflects the fact that Colt and his father surveyed in 2023 by a Jackson County sheriff’s deputy over an online post threatening a school shooting. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said her office not enough evidence found to file charges. It is unclear whether Colt Gray’s previous schools were aware of the threats.
The superintendent also said he wants to expand mental health services for students. The state’s voluntary Apex program sends students to counseling. The program covered 540,000 of Georgia’s 1.75 million students in 2022-23, about 31%.
The state budget that began on July 1 includes more than $100 million in continuing funding for school security, enough to provide $47,000 a year to each public school for safety. Kemp and others have said they want to use that money to pay for at least one security officer for every school, but local school leaders have said the cost of paying a school resource officer is significantly higher. Woods said he wants the state to spend more on school resource officers and warning systems, but did not specify how much.
Georgia Department of Education spokeswoman Meghan Frick said Woods “hopes to engage in open discussions with lawmakers and other partners to determine more specific details, including the specifics of APEX expansion and data sharing.
Burns also said last week that he wants to explore ways to catch guns before they enter schools, increase penalties for threats against schools, and said House Republicans are again… promoting safe storage of firearms take advantage of a tax credit.
Democrats in the state received little support for legislation that would have created a felony for negligently failing to secure firearms that children have access to. Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek, has pledged to that proposal.