Georgia House to direct $8 million toward improving school safety

The Georgia House will set aside $8 million in bond funding to pay for school security improvements in response to growing concerns about keeping public schools safe from mass shootings.

House Speaker David Ralston’s office said Thursday that the money would pay for capital improvements and not personnel hires. Though the specifics haven’t been finalized, that means it could fund new metal detectors, security cameras, new locks and doors, and other improvements.

The money would come from a pot of at least $50 million in discretionary spending each chamber typically controls. Ralston spokesman Kaleb McMichen called on the Senate to match the spending in its fiscal 2019 budget.

“We are putting $8 million toward this, and we hope our friends in the Senate will match this bond funding and add $8 million more for their bond package,” McMichen said.

The House leader’s decision comes amid new scrutiny into Georgia’s gun laws after 17 people were killed at a Florida high school in one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history.

More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday to call for stricter gun laws, backed by Democratic legislators seeking to outlaw certain types of firearms and revamp background checks.

Those proposals are likely to gain little traction in the Republican-controlled statehouse, though lawmakers may soon consider a smaller update to the state’s firearm database that could make it harder for people struggling with severe mental illness to buy firearms.

Meanwhile, some conservative Republicans who are seeking higher office are pushing long-shot proposals they say would boost school security.

State Sen. Josh McKoon has proposed a measure that would require the state to assign at least one member of the Georgia State Patrol at each public school “for the purpose of curbing the risk of mass firearm and other violence at schools.” State Sen. David Shafer, a candidate for lieutenant governor, is among the co-sponsors of the bill.

McKoon, who is running for Georgia secretary of state, said he’s not certain how much his measure would cost the state, though it’s likely tens of millions of dollars. That’s beside the point, he said.

“Georgians are demanding action to protect our young people in school. For too long, we have allowed schools to remain a soft target,” he said, adding that the measure would “guard against any tragedy occurring here like what we witnessed last week in Florida.”

State Sen. Michael Williams, who is running for governor, outlined a proposal that would go a step further.

He would require each school to post a plain-clothed armed security guard at each building entrance. And he would let some teachers who have concealed weapons permits and additional training bring firearms to schools, as well as provide them a state stipend.

“Georgia teachers who agree to serve as coaches receive monthly stipends of $150 to $400 and even more in some schools,” he said. “If Georgia can pay teachers to coach tennis, then Georgia can pay eligible teachers a stipend to protect the lives of our children.”

These measures won’t soon be headed to Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk.

Williams has issued a flurry of proposals this year aimed at propping up his run for governor, and most stand little chance of even reaching a committee hearing. And McKoon has only recently begun to repair long-strained ties with Senate GOP leadership.

Instead, most Republicans have taken a different course.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, also a candidate for governor, said in an interview this week that the focus should be on giving law enforcement officials more resources to follow through on tips about potential threats.

“I don’t think banning some type of weapon is the way to deal with it,” he said. “People who want to do something like this are going to figure out how to get the weapon.”