Every school in GA will get $45,000 to beef up security this year

The state will help educators and law enforcement learn to spot trouble before it escalates into a violent incident at a local school. That will happen at the annual state school safety conference.

Every public school in Georgia will get $45,000 this year to beef up school security.

GEMA director Chris Stallings’ job is to plan for worst-case scenarios.

“Early recognition, early detection,” Stalling told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot .

Elliot spoke exclusively Tuesday with Stallings and State School Superintendent Richard Woods on the eve of the State School Safety Conference -- a chance for educators to get to meet law enforcement to try to stop security issues before they start.

“You have to be proactive, and so, hopefully, how do we prevent something from happening? But you know, should something take place, we’ve got to be ready for that scenario as well,” Woods said.

Tiffany Brown has two kids in Cobb County schools.

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“I think any parent feels, you know, very highly about their kids. So I feel like it’s very important,” Brown said.

She told Elliot that she actually notices the emphasis her school puts on security, and she appreciates it -- especially the active shooter drills.

“They do practice drills for each level. I think the older you get the more they get because the understanding grows,” Brown said.

For Stallings, he said it’s more important to be able to identify problems before they become bigger ones.

“Look for those signs, let’s get far ahead looking into indicators. We don’t need a reason to respond if we can prevent a situation from occurring,” Stalling said.

That State School Safety Conference starts the first week of June in Columbus.

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