Sine Die, the final day of the legislative session, is drawing near quickly, and lawmakers are working feverishly to pass their priority bills. Monday was no exception. Both the Senate and House were celebrating victories late in the day – specifically the passage of two priority bills — House Bill 268, a comprehensive school safety plan, and SB 1, legislation that protects girls sports.
“As legislators, we have no higher calling than to provide every student across our state with a safe and secure learning environment—and today’s passage of House Bill 268 affirms our commitment to doing just that,” said Speaker Jon Burns. “This legislation is the result of months of collaboration with educators, students, parents, school administrators and law enforcement agencies to develop a comprehensive school safety plan that addresses the security needs of our school buildings, prioritizes the mental health of Georgia’s students and ensures we take proactive measures to keep our children safe.”
HB 268 was developed in response to the tragic loss of four Georgians during a school shooting at Apalachee High School last September.
Lt. Governor Burt Jones also praised the passage. “The security and well-being of Georgia’s students and teachers is an initiative I am proud the Georgia General Assembly could agree on. As a father of one middle schooler and one high schooler, there is nothing more important than the safety and security needs of our schools, students, and staff. A secure and safe school environment fosters improved student academic performance, along with their overall wellbeing. I am proud that in Georgia we are prioritizing our children, teachers, and school personnel over politics.”
Highlights from House Bill 268:
● Requires all relevant student records, including education and disciplinary records, to be shared with the receiving school in a given time frame when a student transfers between school districts.
● Allows for the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to establish a statewide alert system to report and monitor incidents of safety threats made against schools.
● Requires schools to adopt threat assessment plans to provide a structured, multidisciplinary process to identify, assess and mitigate potential threats to schools while supporting the safety and well-being of students and school personnel.
● Requires all public schools to implement a mobile panic alert system.
● Creates “qualified student advocacy specialist” positions and grants to fund these positions for local school systems.
● Requires that students in sixth grade and above receive an hour of suicide awareness and prevention training, as well as one hour of youth violence prevention training annually.
● Increases penalties for terroristic acts and requires schools to suspend and provide counseling to students who make credible threats.
The Senate passed another priority bill Monday – Senate Bill 1, the ‘Riley Gaines Act of 2025.’ This bill would ban biological males from participating in women’s sports across Georgia
“Today, the Georgia General Assembly made a historic step toward achieving a critical goal for this session, the protection of women’s sports,” said Jones.
SB 1 is based on legislative findings relating to the need to protect girls’ and women’s athletics and the work of the Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sports. By enacting this legislation, Georgia would join 26 other states that protect women’s sports.
