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ATLANTA, GA (AP) --
Georgia state education officials are offering to review safety plans and emergency response guidelines at schools in the state following the deadly shootings in Connecticut.

In an email Monday to school superintendents across Georgia, state Associate Superintendent Garry McGiboney said state officials can conduct on-site safety assessments for schools with help from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

McGiboney also provided a link to resources for Georgia schools, which includes guidance on how to talk to students about tragedies.

Georgia schools are taking varying approaches to school security since the Friday shootings in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 children dead.

In Atlanta's northeastern suburbs, police officers are being assigned to schools "to help prevent any type of copy cat or similar incident" after the Connecticut shooting, Gwinnett County police said.

The issue is being raised locally with Dougherty County School Board Chairmen Reverend James Bush saying our school district must revisit security issues and take action.

"We need to not just talk about it in front of the press but our children, they need to be secured," said Bush.

Reverend Bush says he believes this issue will be revisited by the school board following the holiday break.

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