As we learn more about a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, Georgia officials say schools here are required to have safety plans in place to deal with a variety of crises.

Dorie Nolt with the Department of Education says state law passed in the mid 1990’s requires schools to develop safety plans with the Department of Education, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

“The Department of Education also provides safety assessments for schools that request them, and to schools that have any sort of violent incident or really any kind of incident on campus. We also have crisis management guidance on our website that’s available to schools to be able to put together plans for any sort of crisis,” said Nolt.

That can include a tragedy like the shooting in Connecticut, but also if fire breaks out, or there is a natural disaster.

For more, NPR has the latest information on the Connecticut school shooting.

Tags: Georgia, Connecticut School Shooting, Education Department