Kemp signs a series of education-related bills into law

Gov. Brian Kemp signed several bills he said will make Georgia schools safer on Thursday.

House Bill 147, also known as the Safe Schools Act, requires Georgia classrooms to conduct intruder alert drills and create school safety plans. Schools are then required to report those actions to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. Parents can opt out their children from the drills.

The bill also creates training for teachers to identify gang members in the classroom.

When it passed, some Democrats questioned why their Republican colleagues moved slowly on gun control measures aimed at preventing school shootings. Some also raised concerns over whether gang identification training could lead to racial profiling.

Kemp signed two bills to bolster literacy instruction, and two bills aiming to help students with medical conditions. 

Senate Bill 211 and HB 538 both aim to increase literacy rates in third grade students. SB 211 establishes a Georgia Council on Literacy and HB 538 provides reading assessments and curriculum for literacy. Both bills are part of a legislative effort to reduce the number of elementary age students not reading at their grade level. 

Senate Bill 45 allows parents to submit action plans to address medical seizures to their child's school, and House Bill 440 allows schools to stock ready-to-use glucagon for diabetics.