Dempsey, Lumsden named to school safety committee
The House study panel will look at ways the state can help systems deal with violence in the wake of recent shootings.
Two of Floyd County’s lawmakers will spend the summer examining ways to increase school safety in light of the shootings in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staffers were killed.
Reps. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, and Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, R-Armuchee, are among the nine members appointed to the House Study Committee on School Security.
Their first meeting is scheduled for May 14 in Dawsonville.
“We’ll be looking at what we can do to help our local communities and school systems,” said Lumsden, who is a retired state patrol trooper.
State law already allows teachers to carry guns on campus if the local school board approves. Lumsden said he expects the group to consider a wide variety of options.
“From my perspective, securing a facility is not that difficult — but a school is a different dynamic than a courthouse or a prison,” he said. “It’s something each community has to decide, but we’ll look at best practices from other communities and, hopefully, come up with some good recommendations.”
Dempsey sponsored the Jason Flatt Act, which requires annual suicide prevention training for educators. She said “empowering teachers as watchers” for mental health issues is one facet.
“If someone exhibits troubling behavior, they are equipped, not to fix it, but to connect that person to help,” Dempsey said.
She’s also a backer of school safety officers, saying they need to be well-equipped “and they need to be there, not traveling between schools.”
She said the Legislature included some funding in the state budget this year for each school to make safety improvements, but she added that the systems — especially the big ones — are going to need more help.
“We’ll talk about the barriers to school safety as well,” Dempsey said. “Everything will be brought up.”
The enabling legislation, House Resolution 1414, states that various factors can affect school safety, including mental health issues, infrastructure design, equipment, training, planning and the availability of resources.
The goal is “to help curb incidents of violence in schools and to facilitate life-saving responses when such incidents occur.”
Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, will chair the committee. Other members are the vice chair, Rep. Mandi Ballinger, R-Canton, and Reps. Heath Clark, R-Warner Robins; Randy Nix, R-LaGrange; Brian Prince, D-Augusta; and Valencia Stovall, D-Forest Park.