Senators debate statewide student-threat database and alert system; parents and advocates raise privacy and equity concerns

Senate Bill 54 (LC 394489), presented by Senator Jones to the Senate Education and Youth Committee, would direct the State Board of Education to establish a statewide alert system and a database for primary and secondary schools listing students who have been evaluated as posing a threat to school safety. The bill directs the State Board to promulgate rules governing the database and to consult with other agencies as needed; proponents said the system would standardize information-sharing across school systems.

Senator Jones said the measure grew from the firearms safe-storage study committee convened by the lieutenant governor and described three components, with the principal goal to have a common alert system rather than each district developing separate solutions. Jones told the committee the database "would exist of students that pose any kind of threat to, any of the ... school systems throughout the state of Georgia" and that the evaluation criteria would rely on clinical psychologists and school social workers.

Senator Jones said the bill would not itself create new data elements in most cases but would add a field to the existing transfer information and that the State Board of Education — not law-enforcement agencies — would lead the rulemaking.

Questions from committee members focused on timelines (the bill schedules the database to begin in 2027 to allow board hiring and procurement), whether the State Board should be required to consult with Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security (GEMA) and other agencies, cost implications and who would have access to the database. Jones said the State Board would adopt rules that limit access and determine technical protections.

During public comment, Deandrea Byrd, who identified herself as a parent and long-time education advocate, urged the committee to reconsider the bill and warned it could "disproportionately harm black and brown students and students with disabilities," citing national disparities in school discipline rates and expressing concern that a statewide watchlist "could make it easier for some children to be labeled, stereotyped, watched, harassed, punished, rather than supported." Byrd also raised cybersecurity concerns and asked who would have access to records about children as young as kindergarten.

A witness who identified herself as a former school principal responded during the hearing that much of the transfer information already exists in school-to-school records and emphasized that the bill’s intent is child safety; she cited a transfer case referenced earlier in the hearing where information did not reach a receiving district.

Committee members discussed possible amendments and the legislative timeline: because crossover day was the following day, Senator Jones said the bill could not complete the steps necessary to move to the House in time and would likely be recommitted. Several senators encouraged the sponsor and interested members to refine language and seek a vehicle to attach the language to a bill that has already crossed over. Senators also suggested tightening language about who may access the database and requiring consultation with security agencies.

No committee vote to pass SB 54 was recorded during the hearing; senators and witnesses agreed to continue work on language and find an appropriate legislative vehicle for enactment this session.

Ending: Committee members expressed the bill’s intent to improve safety while also acknowledging substantial concerns about privacy, equity and access; senators asked the sponsor to meet with stakeholders and counsel to refine language for future consideration.