Following 83 school shootings across America last year, many state legislators have focused on trying to find a way to better protect Georgia students and teachers.
Georgia Representatives Jon Burns of the District 159 (Newington), Chuck Efstration of the 104th (Mulberry), Chris Erwin of the 32nd (Horner), Houston Gaines of the 120th (Athens), and Holt Persinger (Winder), among others, have proposed a school safety bill.
Bill 268 would create an app for people to anonymously report threats. It passed the House of Representatives March 5 in a 159 to 13 vote.
If enacted, the bill would lead to a statewide database to include students’ information from screenings to potentially help the school better understand individual behavioral and emotional functioning. These assessments would be provided by the department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
“I believe this legislation will usher in a new culture in our school systems, where we run towards our children facing struggles with mental health,” Burns said.
The database would include disciplinary, mental health, and law enforcement records of students for schools to assess those who may pose a threat to others or themselves. It also would require schools to transfer students’ information quicker when they move schools. The bill would require the state to pay for at least one mental health professional to coordinate mental health initiatives for each district.
The schools will be provided grants from the State Board of Education to pay for the coordinators and qualified mental health assessments.
“As used in this Code section, the term ‘qualified mental health coordinator’ means an individual employed by a local school system whose beginning salary and benefits are eligible for reimbursement grants under this Code section.”
According to the bill, the number of mental health coordinators required would be based on a ratio of at least one coordinator for 18,000 students within a school system, at least two coordinators for schools with enrollment of 18,000 to 36,000 students, and a minimum of three coordinators for school systems of more than 36,000 students.
HB256 also requires all regulations and guidelines for the assessment by the department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and hiring of coordinators to be established by July 1, 2025, through the State Board of Education.
The mental health professionals would be responsible for facilitating interventions for students with mental health concerns, then documenting and reporting outcomes of Tier 1 and Tier 2 behavioral health training programs and assessments.
Several legislators, however, remain concerned about the bill’s focus on running surveillance on children and possible biases that could arise from a related database.
“There isn’t nearly enough on mental health, and there’s too much on surveillance, overcriminalization, and the invasion of privacy of our students and their families,” according to Representative Gabriel Sanchez of District 42 in Smyrna.
Sandra Godwin, a Milledgeville citizen and GCSU professor of sociology, said she shares similar concerns, but stressed these are her personal values and not those of the college.
“I have not read the whole bill, but what I do know about is how it could end up creating a situation where students of color are more likely to be surveilled … which is, of course, problematic,” Godwin said.
“What I don’t understand is why they wouldn’t just focus more on gun ownership, or, why not more gun control, you know, on campus and things like that?”
Some legislators are also concerned that a database like this could negatively affect students future opportunities if they have multiple disciplinary actions in the system.
Among the documents the bill would provide access to are academic transcripts, attendance records, student discipline records, reports of criminal action made, notices of chronic disciplinary problems, and any records of students being adjudicated guilty of a Class A or Class B felony, along with date committed and when sentence was completed, if applicable.
The bill also calls for access to records if a student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or psychological evaluations, as well as class schedules, grades, student financial information, health records, and special education records.
Additionally, all records related to schooling would be required to be updated by July 1 each year following the enactment of this bill to ensure the database always has the most recent information. These requirements would apply to all public and private schools across Georgia. The bill is currently in Georgia’s Senate for review and voting.