ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday he will ask the General Assembly to provide an additional $50 million in state grants to improve security in Georgia schools.
The added funding would bring the total for the current fiscal year to $158 million, Kemp said during a news conference at the state Capitol.
“This is going to keep our students, teachers, and school systems safer,” he said.
The issue of school safety has taken on greater urgency under the Gold Dome since last September’s mass shooting at Apalachee High School near Winder that killed two students and two teachers. A 14-year-old student was arrested at the scene and charged with the murders.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones credited the school-safety grant program with reducing the potential carnage at the school in Barrow County.
“Had we not made that investment, the tragedy that hit Apalachee could have been much worse,” he said.
The added funding for school safety would be enough to give each school in the state $68,760.
Kemp said local school systems would be given discretion over how to use the money.
“They know their schools and their needs better than we do,” he said.
However, legislation the General Assembly passed in 2023 requires schools to submit safety plans to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency in order to receive the funds.