Governor Brian Kemp Allocates $130 Million for Georgia Public School Safety and Crisis Telemetry

ATLANTA — Governor Brian Kemp announced on Monday the distribution of $130 million in direct state school safety grants from the Georgia Department of Education, allocating an unencumbered $65,000 grant directly to all 2,000 public elementary, middle, and high schools across Georgia's 181 public school districts.

The school security package, approved during the recent legislative budget session, empowers local school principals and district boards of education to purchase specialized physical security hardware, hire certified School Resource Officers (SROs), and deploy wearable silent panic alert badges for classroom teachers.

Protecting Georgia Students and Equipping Educators Governor Kemp emphasized that providing direct, flexible security grants ensures that local school principals—who understand their campus layouts best—can implement tailored security solutions without state bureaucratic interference.

"There is nothing more important than the safety of our children, our teachers, and our school staff," Governor Kemp said during an announcement at an elementary school in Gwinnett County. "By delivering $65,000 directly to every single public school across Georgia, we are giving our principals and local law enforcement the resources to install automated security doors, crisis alert systems, and video monitoring, ensuring our schools remain safe havens for learning."

Approved Campus Safety Upgrades Schools may utilize the state funds for:

• Wearable Silent Panic Alert Badges: Equipping teachers with emergency lanyards that broadcast instant lockdown telemetry and classroom coordinates to 911 dispatchers within two seconds.
• Automated Access Control and Ballistic Entry Film: Hardening main entrance glass vestibules and installing automated electronic magnetic door locks.
• Law Enforcement Interoperable Radios: Direct radio links connecting school administrative teams with local sheriffs' offices and municipal police.

Local school superintendents, parent-teacher associations, and law enforcement federations commended the direct per-school funding model, pointing out that direct disbursements eliminate administrative overhead and deliver immediate security hardware on campuses.