New Georgia School Safety Laws In Wake Of Apalachee High School Shooting

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

The weighty topic of school safety was a key focus of the July 28 Dade County Board of Education meeting, along with a federal funding update and increased school meal prices.

First, Jeremy Roerdink (director of federal programs and safety) reported on federal fund allocations. In the week leading up to the board meeting, the school system did not think it would receive the usual federal funds due to the U.S. Department of Education restructuring under the Trump administration. However, on the Friday before the meeting, Roerdink received an email from the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) notifying him that the federal department would be distributing the funds.

Title I was not at risk of being affected, but Title II and Title IV were. We do not yet know how much we’ll receive for the latter two, but Roerdink believes the amounts will be within the typical range.

Title I funds go toward salaries for some instructional coaches, interventionists, and paraprofessionals and aid for homeless students. We are receiving $471,479 this year, an increase of $25,248 from last year.

Title II funds primarily go toward professional development programs, classes, and trainings. Last year, we received $76,344.

Title IV pays for the elementary schools’ art teacher (who splits time between both schools). Last year, we received $37,149.

The board voted to accept Title I allocations and will vote on the other two once the state alerts Roerdink about this year’s allocations.

Moving on to school safety, Roerdink explained that two state bills were passed in the wake of the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at Apalachee High School.

Senate Bill 351, titled “Protecting GA’s Children on Social Media Act of 2024,” requires that Georgia students in grades 6-12 be taught about the social, emotional, and physical effects and risks of social media, covering topics like mental health, dis/misinformation, cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking.

GaDOE is paying for Parent ProTech which provides a handful of brief lessons that will be incorporated at the middle and high school. Parents can also request an account so they can view the lessons.

House Bill 268 is a hefty one, and school systems have a year to implement the new requirements. Dade can already check off some of the boxes, like the requirement for a mobile panic alert system (we use Centegix), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and anonymous reporting options (we have “See Something, Send Something” and DC Connect).

Dade also already provides school maps to law enforcement through Cylox maps, but these are more like blueprints. HB268 requires in depth maps, so Dade will be meeting that requirement through Centegix.

When new students join the school system, schools will have five days to obtain completed screening questions and record transfers. These are intended to bring any red flags to the new school’s attention. Roerdink explained that there are efforts to hold Colin Gray (father of Apalachee shooter Colt Gray) accountable for not answering screening questions truthfully.

Student advocacy specialists are also a new requirement. Roerdink explained that each district will receive a grant to hire a mental health specialist for interventionists and behavioral health training.

The bill also requires suicide awareness and prevention training for staff, a behavior threat assessment management plan (i.e. a team to screen threats at schools), and stricter penalties for terroristic threats and acts, so Dade schools will be working on these items.

Jayne Griffin (At-Large representative) asked if any parts of these bills address a cell phone policy. Roerdink said cell phones are addressed in a separate bill, House Bill 340, the “Distraction-Free Education Act.”

Dade already has some restrictions in place regarding personal devices, so the school system is assessing whether or not these meet the bill’s requirements. The bill prohibits access to personal electronic devices from “bell-to-bell” with some exceptions, but school systems have until Jan. 1, 2026, to develop and adjust policies.

Roerdink explained that Governor Brian Kemp gave safety funds to all school districts again last year. Dade received about $188,000 at the beginning of last school year and another $25,000 at the end of the year. A portion of the School Resource Officer (SRO) salaries will come from these funds this year.

The board approved the use of up to $70,000 of these funds for additional cameras for the new Davis building and the DCHS engineering room, access control at Davis, one HALO Smart Sensor at DCHS, upgrades to all servers, and more intercom speakers.

Moving on, the board approved increased meal prices for school meals—the first increase since 2018. The new prices are:

• Davis Elementary School/Dade Elementary School: Breakfast $1.50, Lunch $2.50
• Dade Middle School: Breakfast $1.50, Lunch $2.75
• Dade County High School: Breakfast $1.50, Lunch $3
• Adult Meals: Breakfast $2.35, Lunch $4.30

Jennifer Bowden (director of school nutrition) reported that in 2018, the school system spent $452,000 on food. Last year, the system spent $599,000. This doesn’t include the labor costs.

Bowden said that according to the school system’s food supplier, the ongoing tariff wars have caused increased prices for some items.

The question of why Dade doesn’t have free meals for all students when some other counties do is a common one, so the board addressed it again at this meeting. See the Sept. 5, 2024, Sentinel for more details, but essentially, not enough Dade students are signed up for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to make the free meals affordable for the school system. Under the current model, the students with need do receive free meals.

Next, the board approved the purchase of three supplemental curricula/material sets funded in part by Education Special Purpose Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST):

• $18,088.86 (from E-SPLOST) for elementary Studies Weekly social studies materials
• $13,219.40 (of which $11,719.41 is E-SPLOST eligible) for middle school Carnegie Math supplemental materials
• $13,860 (of which $5,180 is E-SPLOST eligible) for middle school Savvas Science materials

The board also approved purchasing a sound system from Sound Solutions for the baseball/softball press box. The system costs $12,270.50, but DHCS is covering $4,500, leaving $7,770.50 that the board is covering using E-SPLOST.

The personnel report is as follows:

• Hires: Amy Allen, Mary Braun, Karlee Emerson, Jackie Miles, Jimmy Brown, 2025-2026 Coaches
• Resignations: Jocie Queen, Matt Wheeler
• School Nutrition Hire: Laura Holmes