Episode Details

On the Monday, Sept. 16 edition of Georgia Today: Georgia schools use a new technology to enable a swift response in active shooter situations; a subcommittee by Sen. Jon Ossoff looks into Georgia's abortion ban; and a new study explores what is driving up the rate of childhood obesity in the state.

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Sept. 16. I'm Orlando Montoya. On today's episode, Georgia schools use a new technology to enable a swift response in active shooter situations. A subcommittee by Sen. Jon Ossoff looks into Georgia's abortion ban, and a new report explores what's driving up the rate of childhood obesity in the state. Those stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Apalachee High School now has a return to class plan following the shooting that killed two students and two teachers there on Sept. 4. The school's principal says the return will be phased in starting Sept. 23. Other schools in the district went back to class on September 10th. Winder resident Sonya Turner has two daughters at Apalachee High School.

Sonya Turner: And there's a lot of those students in that high school that want to go back. They want to overcome this and go back and be strong. But then on the flip side, you have students who can't even eat. So there's not a one size fits all.

Orlando Montoya: She says she expects the return to be more about healing than instruction.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: A teacher who survived the shooting is thanking first responders, family members and others for their support in his recovery. David Phoenix was shot twice on Sept. 4 and said in a statement posted on Facebook yesterday that that day will be, quote, "forever etched in his memory." He was released from the hospital on Friday.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: Law enforcement officials are praising new technology used by Barrow County schools for enabling a swift response to the shooting. That crisis alert system includes a wearable badge with a button that, when pressed, will summon security. And other schools in Georgia are using this technology as well. Gwinnett County Schools chief of police Tony Lockard spoke with GPB's Peter Biello about the technology.

Peter Biello: So schools in Gwinnett County use these badges, which are made by a company called Centegix. Can you tell me a little bit about what stood out to you about this company's system when you selected it?

Tony Lockard: What we were looking at was the timeliness of the responses; that it actually populates to the administration or district-level individuals or our officers receiving the alerts. Also, the functionality, how user friendly is it, and so forth. And also given feedback again from our faculty and staff.

Peter Biello: Tell us more about how it works. It's a wearable badge for teachers and staff, not for students. What happens when they press the button or how does the button work?

Tony Lockard: So the way the technology works is it's a badge. If you think of something the size of a credit card and it can be on a lanyard around your neck, in a little sleeve. I'll use this example. You could have a teacher that goes t