MACON, Ga. — Safety inside Georgia schools has been on the agenda for lawmakers, given the increase of school shootings across America.
Georgia's House Bill 147, the Safe Schools Act, requires public schools to create and share safety plans with the state's emergency management agency.
The law also aimed to modernize emergency response training statewide for armed intruders.
It requires Georgia teachers to complete school safety and anti-gang training.
The schools must hold intruder drills, where everyone in the building learns how to protect themselves in active-shooter situations. However, parents can choose to opt their children out of those drills.
Centegix Crisis Alert security systems are expanding across Georgia.
In Houston County, teachers are equipped to alert law enforcement at the push of a button.
"We've got Centegix response badges which allow an employee to call a code red," Superintendent Mark Scott said.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith confirmed at a press conference tonight that staff at Apalachee High School wear those same badges, and were wearing them during the shooting on Wednesday.
"It alerts us that there is an active situation at the school for whatever reason. And that was pressed. We've had that for about a week now," Smith said.
Houston County operates with 23 school resource officers across the district, while Barrow County has 15 officers.
Two SROs helped prevent even more casualties during Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High.
In Baldwin County, middle and high school students go through metal detectors every day.
Director of Safety and Security Corey Goble says students can walk through their portable OPENGATE systems without removing anything out of their bags or pockets.
"I'm gonna call them smart detectors because they have the ability to discriminate certain common metallic objects," Goble said.
Most counties use metal detectors at school events and enforce a clear bag policy not only at events but also during the school day.
Pulaski County Schools is the latest district in Central Georgia to enforce the clear bag policy.
In October 2023, Bibb County Schools launched "Safe4Bibb", a mobile app for students and families to submit information and prevent crimes or threats.
"Within the app itself, there's a laundry list of things they might deal with on a daily basis from bullying, drug use, all the way down to more serious threats against them or the schools, self harm, suicide, all of those things are reportable in the app in a secure anonymous fashion," Safety and Security manager Matthew Giegler said.