State Rep. Holt Persinger embraced his fellow legislators and held them tight. It had been a long six months since a gunman shot and killed four people at Apalachee High School in his district.
The Georgia House Tuesday approved his legislation, a sprawling school safety bill designed to prevent future campus shootings, with the full weight of House Speaker Jon Burns behind it. Members gave Persinger, R-Winder, a standing ovation — an emotional show of support after a devastating tragedy.
Persinger, along with Burns and Education Chairman Chris Erwin, sought to weave together a collection of new policies balancing public safety with concerns about personal liberty protection, after a series of meetings with educators, parents and students throughout the state.
What resulted was House Bill 268, which has several parts:
- It would require schools to develop physical safety plans in the event of an active shooter;
- It would mandate that schools share information about transferring students within five days of their arrival at a new school;
- It could trigger a visit from a social worker for a student who suddenly stops attending school without notice;
- It would institute an anonymous platform, where anyone could report students who may pose a threat to school, staff, students or themselves;
- It would develop a database with information about students who have made credible threats, shared between relevant school administrators, law enforcement and mental health counselors;
- And it would install mental health coordinators, who would connect students to resources in the community for support and behavioral health treatment.
“This legislation … will save lives and protect our students, teachers and schools in every corner of this state. This bill will put in place proactive, early intervention measures that support the mental health and well-being of our children,” Persinger said.
In a rare appearance before House members on the floor, Burns called HB 268 “the most important bill we will consider this session.” The last time a House speaker took to the floor, it was the late David Ralston, who spoke about his mental health legislation in 2022.
Burns, who was the first signatory on the bill, said it was important for him to personally speak in support of the legislation because he wants to remove the stigma around mental health support in schools.
“Today, we have an opportunity to be committed to school safety. Our children demand no less. Our future demands no less,” he said.
The bill passed by a 159-13 vote. It will now move to the Senate, which has its own legislation to address school safety.
Friction over data privacy and concerns that certain students, particularly minority boys, would be unfairly targeted kept the legislation from unanimous House support.
Rep. Mekyah McQueen, D-Smyrna, who is a teacher, said the bill gave her serious pause.
“We are being asked to create a state-run student surveillance database — a watchlist for children, readily available for law enforcement access,” she said.
The information collected would be different from attendance and grades, she said. “This isn’t neutral data. This is subjective labeling, deciding which children are considered a threat based on feeling, a perception, a judgment.”
Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, D-Smyrna, also spoke out against the legislation as one of two Gen Z legislators whom he said know “what it’s like to go to school in the modern environment of mass shootings and the fears and anxieties that comes with.”
In the more than 60 pages of the bill, Sanchez said “there’s not nearly enough on mental health, and there’s far too much on surveillance, over-criminalization, and the invasion of privacy of our students and their families.”
House legislators also passed House Bill 79 Tuesday, which would provide a tax credit to gun owners who purchase a lockbox and safely store away their firearms.
Democrats, all of whom voted in favor of the bill, used the legislation as an opportunity to push the General Assembly to enact further gun safety measures.
“Red flag laws would prevent deaths. Waiting periods would prevent deaths. Not abolishing mental health records after five years, as we do in Georgia uniquely, would prevent deaths. Background checks would prevent deaths,” said State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, a Democrat from Decatur.
State Rep. Mark Newton, a Republican from Augusta who sponsored HB 79, said his bill addressed some of the concerns Democrats had around gun safety.
“This bill will give parents the tools they need so that they’re able to protect their children, whether it’s a troubled teenager or young child that they’re worried about finding weapons,” he said.
The House also passed two seemingly contradictory bills about school speeding zones, House Bill 225 and House Bill 651.
The first bill would prevent the use of cameras to cite speeders in school zones. The latter would require local jurisdictions to put up flashing beacons with radar speed detectors 500 feet from school zone to warn drivers how fast they’re driving prior to ticketing.
Half a portion of the money from the citations issued as a result of HB 651 would be used to fund school safety needs, sponsor state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, said.
When asked about the choice to send these two measures to the other chamber, Burns said, “We hope the Senate will see the wisdom of what we’re sending over to them and embrace good, common-sense legislation.”
Thursday is Crossover Day, the Legislature’s deadline in which most bills must pass their originating chamber to be considered for final passage.
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