---
title: SB 54. State Board of Education; establishment of a program and state-wide database relating to threats to safety made on or impacting school campuses; require
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb54
cite_as: SB 54, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb54
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb54.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb54/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69630
date: 2025-01-29
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb54.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 54
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-28
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Emanuel Jones
- Harold Jones
- Freddie Sims
- David Lucas
- Nan Orrock
- Gail Davenport
- Kenya Wicks
- Michael Rhett
- Sheikh Rahman
- Donzella James
- Nikki Merritt
- RaShaun Kemp
- Sonya Halpern
- Elena Parent
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB54/2025
upstream_id: 1945106
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- school safety
- student privacy
- education policy
- law enforcement coordination
- mental health services
---
# SB 54. State Board of Education; establishment of a program and state-wide database relating to threats to safety made on or impacting school campuses; require
## Text
Senate Bill 54
By: Senators Jones of the 10th, Jones II of the 22nd, Sims of the 12th, Lucas of the 26th,
Orrock of the 36th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to state board of education, so as to require the establishment of a program and
state-wide database by the State Board of Education relating to threats to safety made on or
impacting school campuses; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state
board of education, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"20-2-20.1.
(a) No later than July 1, 2026, the State Board of Education shall establish an emergency
alert response system to be provided to public elementary and secondary schools in this
state that allows:
(1) School administration to notify law enforcement of threats made on or impacting a
school campus;
(2) School administration to notify local emergency first responders of an active threat
to safety upon a school campus; and
(3) A public elementary or secondary school to communicate with neighboring local
school systems about threats made on or impacting a school campus or emergency
procedures initiated upon a school campus due to an active threat to safety.
(b) No later than July 1, 2027, the State Board of Education shall establish a secure
state-wide database for use by public elementary and secondary schools in this state to
report and monitor incidents of safety threats made on or impacting a school campus. The
name of any person who threatens the safety of a school shall be included in such database;
provided, however, that no student shall be entered on any such database until the threat
to school safety has been investigated and verified by local law enforcement and the
student has been evaluated by a certificated school social worker from the local school
system, if any are employed by the school system. The State Board of Education shall
develop standards for determining when a verified threat qualifies for inclusion of a person
within the database and a method for petitioning for removal from any database developed
pursuant to this subsection. Any such removal standards shall include a required
evaluation of the student by a certified school social worker. Such database shall be
accessible only to designated personnel at each public elementary or secondary school in
this state. When a student has been added to the database established pursuant to this
subsection, the local school system shall provide the parents or guardians of the student
with recommendations for counseling services and provide the student with available
specialized mental health services while in school.
(c) The State Board of Education shall be authorized to consult with the Georgia
Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, and local boards of education and other elementary and secondary school
governing bodies for purposes of this Code section."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would require the State Board of Education to build a statewide alert system and a database tracking people who threaten school safety, covering all public elementary and secondary schools.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law currently has no statewide system requiring schools to quickly alert police and neighboring districts about safety threats, nor a shared database to track people who make such threats. This bill adds a new section to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A. ยง 20-2-20.1) directing the State Board of Education to create both.
By July 1, 2026, the board must set up an emergency alert response system letting school administrators notify law enforcement and first responders of threats, and letting schools communicate with neighboring districts about threats or emergency procedures. By July 1, 2027, the board must build a secure statewide database where schools report and monitor safety threats. Students can only be added after local law enforcement verifies the threat and a school social worker evaluates the student. The board must also set standards for removal from the database and require counseling recommendations and mental health services for listed students. The board may consult with state emergency management, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and local school boards.
### What it does
- Requires the State Board of Education to establish, by July 1, 2026, an alert system letting schools notify police and first responders of safety threats and communicate with neighboring districts.
- Requires the State Board of Education to build, by July 1, 2027, a secure statewide database tracking people who threaten school safety.
- Bars adding a student to the database until local law enforcement verifies the threat and a certified school social worker evaluates the student.
- Requires the board to create standards for when a threat qualifies for database inclusion and a process for petitioning removal, including another social worker evaluation.
- Requires local school systems to give parents counseling recommendations and provide the student with available mental health services once a student is added to the database.
- Authorizes the board to consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and local school boards.
### Who it affects
Public elementary and secondary schools and their administrators, the State Board of Education, local school systems and boards, school social workers, students accused of making threats and their parents or guardians, and local law enforcement and emergency responders who would receive alerts through the new system.
### Why it matters
Schools and police would gain a faster, standardized way to share threat information and coordinate emergency responses. Families of students flagged in the new database would face real consequences, since inclusion requires law enforcement verification but still triggers mental health referrals and a formal removal process.
### Key provisions
- New Code section 20-2-20.1(a) requires the alert system by July 1, 2026, covering notification to law enforcement, first responders, and neighboring school systems.
- Subsection (b) requires the statewide threat database by July 1, 2027, restricted to designated school personnel and limited to verified, investigated threats.
- Subsection (b) requires a certified school social worker evaluation before a student's name is added or removed from the database.
- Subsection (b) requires local school systems to offer counseling recommendations to parents and mental health services to students listed in the database.
- Subsection (c) allows the board to consult with the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and local school governing bodies.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-28)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-01-29)
- Sponsors: Emanuel Jones, Harold Jones, Freddie Sims, David Lucas, Nan Orrock, Gail Davenport, Kenya Wicks, Michael Rhett, Sheikh Rahman, Donzella James, Nikki Merritt, RaShaun Kemp, Sonya Halpern, Elena Parent
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69630
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb54.md?full=1