| 1 | 1 | | 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 2 | 2 | | House Bill 917 |
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| 3 | 3 | | By: Representatives Jones of the 25 |
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| 4 | 4 | | th |
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| 5 | 5 | | and Hilton of the 48 |
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| 6 | 6 | | th |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | To amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to |
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| 11 | 11 | | 1 |
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| 12 | 12 | | elementary and secondary education, so as to provide generally for open enrollment2 |
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| 13 | 13 | | processes for students to transfer between local school systems and between schools within3 |
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| 14 | 14 | | local school systems; to provide for rules, regulations, and policies; to prohibit4 |
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| 15 | 15 | | discrimination; to prohibit charging tuition for transfers between local school systems,5 |
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| 16 | 16 | | subject to an exception; to provide for appeals of denials of transfer requests; to provide for6 |
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| 17 | 17 | | the submission and publication of reports; to revise the calculations for equalization grants;7 |
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| 18 | 18 | | to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and8 |
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| 19 | 19 | | for other purposes.9 |
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| 20 | 20 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:10 |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 1.11 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and12 |
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| 23 | 23 | | secondary education, is amended in Part 4 of Article 6, relating to financing under the13 |
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| 24 | 24 | | "Quality Basic Education Act," by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-165, relating14 |
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| 25 | 25 | | to equalization grants, annual calculations, and allocation, as follows:15 |
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| 26 | 26 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 27 | 27 | | - 1 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 28 | 28 | | "(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the The State Board of16 |
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| 29 | 29 | | Education shall annually calculate the equalization grant for each qualified local school17 |
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| 30 | 30 | | system in the following manner:18 |
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| 31 | 31 | | (1)(A) Subtract the assessed valuation per weighted full-time equivalent count for the19 |
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| 32 | 32 | | local school system from the guaranteed valuation;20 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (2)(B) Divide the difference resulting from paragraph (1) subparagraph (A) of this21 |
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| 34 | 34 | | subsection paragraph by 1,000;22 |
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| 35 | 35 | | (3)(C) Subtract five from the effective millage rate for the local school system and use23 |
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| 36 | 36 | | the resulting number of effective mills or 15 effective mills, whichever is less, as the24 |
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| 37 | 37 | | number of effective mills to be equalized;25 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4)(D) Multiply the quotient resulting from paragraph (2) subparagraph (B) of this26 |
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| 39 | 39 | | subsection paragraph by the number of effective mills to be equalized pursuant to27 |
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| 40 | 40 | | paragraph (3) subparagraph (C) of this subsection paragraph; and28 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (5)(D) Multiply the product resulting from paragraph (4) subparagraph (D) of this29 |
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| 42 | 42 | | subsection paragraph by the most recent weighted full-time equivalent count for the30 |
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| 43 | 43 | | local school system.31 |
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| 44 | 44 | | The resulting amount shall be the equalization grant for the ensuing fiscal year.; provided,32 |
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| 45 | 45 | | however, that for each local school system33 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2)(A) Except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the State Board of34 |
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| 47 | 47 | | Education shall annually calculate the equalization grant for each qualified local school35 |
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| 48 | 48 | | system which serves under contract all of the students in one or more grade levels from36 |
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| 49 | 49 | | an adjoining another local school system. The and for each local school system which37 |
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| 50 | 50 | | sends under contract all of the students in one or more grade levels to an adjoining38 |
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| 51 | 51 | | system, the equalization grant shall be calculated to represent the amount that would be39 |
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| 52 | 52 | | earned if the students transferred under said contract were included in the full-time40 |
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| 53 | 53 | | equivalent counts of the local school system in which they reside.; provided, further,41 |
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| 54 | 54 | | that any42 |
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| 55 | 55 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 56 | 56 | | - 2 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (B) Any equalization grant to be earned by a local school system sending students to43 |
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| 58 | 58 | | another system under the provisions of such a contract shall be reduced by an amount44 |
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| 59 | 59 | | which represents the equalization funds earned per weighted full-time equivalent45 |
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| 60 | 60 | | student multiplied by the total weighted full-time equivalent count for students46 |
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| 61 | 61 | | transferred, and any equalization grant to be earned by the local school system47 |
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| 62 | 62 | | receiving students under said contract shall be increased by the same amount; provided,48 |
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| 63 | 63 | | however, that the total amount of state and local revenue per full-time equivalent49 |
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| 64 | 64 | | student of such local school system shall not be decreased to less than $10,000.00 by50 |
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| 65 | 65 | | operation of this subparagraph."51 |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 2.52 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Said chapter is further amended in Part 13 of Article 6, relating to organization of schools53 |
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| 68 | 68 | | and systems under the "Quality Basic Education Act," by revising Code Section 20-2-293,54 |
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| 69 | 69 | | relating to student attending school in system other than system of student's residence, as55 |
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| 70 | 70 | | follows:56 |
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| 71 | 71 | | "20-2-293.57 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (a)(1) The provisions of this article and other statutes to the contrary notwithstanding, the58 |
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| 73 | 73 | | State Board of Education shall provide a an open enrollment procedure whereby a student59 |
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| 74 | 74 | | shall be permitted to attend and to be included as an enrolled student in the public schools60 |
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| 75 | 75 | | of a local unit of administration school system other than the local unit of administration61 |
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| 76 | 76 | | school system wherein the student resides for the purpose of allotting state funds under this62 |
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| 77 | 77 | | article, notwithstanding absence of an agreement between the two local units and a refusal63 |
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| 78 | 78 | | by the board of education of the local unit wherein the student resides to approve64 |
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| 79 | 79 | | voluntarily such transfer of the student to the public schools of the other local unit;65 |
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| 80 | 80 | | provided, however, that the board of education of the local unit is willing to receive and to66 |
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| 81 | 81 | | permit such student to enroll in and to attend the public schools of such local unit school67 |
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| 82 | 82 | | systems. The state board State Board of Education shall adopt such rules, regulations, and68 |
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| 83 | 83 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 84 | 84 | | - 3 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 85 | 85 | | policies as may be necessary for implementation of this Code section, which shall include,69 |
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| 86 | 86 | | but shall not be limited to, rules, regulations, and policies for the appeals process provided70 |
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| 87 | 87 | | for in subsection (d) of this Code section. Grant or refusal of permission for students to71 |
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| 88 | 88 | | attend such schools, for the purpose of permitting state funds to follow such students, shall72 |
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| 89 | 89 | | be subject only to approval of the enrolling student and the local unit of administration in73 |
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| 90 | 90 | | which the student seeks to enroll. Local units of administration may contract with each74 |
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| 91 | 91 | | other for the care, education, and transportation of students and for such other activities as75 |
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| 92 | 92 | | they may be authorized by law to perform.76 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (2) Beginning July 1, 2026, and continuing thereafter, if a local unit of administration77 |
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| 94 | 94 | | enrolls a student pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection and requires the student to78 |
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| 95 | 95 | | pay tuition, the amount of tuition such local unit of administration may charge to such79 |
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| 96 | 96 | | student shall not exceed total revenues less federal revenues less state revenues per80 |
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| 97 | 97 | | full-time equivalent student for the local unit of administration that enrolls such student.81 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (b) Each local school system shall implement an open enrollment process as provided for82 |
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| 99 | 99 | | in this Code section. The board of education of each local school system shall adopt83 |
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| 100 | 100 | | policies to govern the process for open enrollment. Such policies shall:84 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (1) Prohibit discrimination against any transferring student on the basis of his or her85 |
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| 102 | 102 | | residential address, ability, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic status;86 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (2) Include basic information that is needed to request enrollment and that is consistent87 |
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| 104 | 104 | | with guidance and state and federal law regarding student privacy and civil rights;88 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (3) Include information regarding the provision of transportation or resources for89 |
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| 106 | 106 | | transportation;90 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (4) Be posted to the local school system's public website; and91 |
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| 108 | 108 | | (5) Be available in English and in any other language used by a majority of the student92 |
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| 109 | 109 | | populations served by each school of the local school system.93 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (c) Each local school system shall receive and enroll transferring students who apply94 |
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| 111 | 111 | | through the open enrollment process provided for in this Code section unless there is95 |
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| 112 | 112 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 113 | 113 | | - 4 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 114 | 114 | | insufficient space available in the school to which such transferring student is applying. 96 |
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| 115 | 115 | | Each local school system shall determine for each of its schools the enrollment capacity of97 |
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| 116 | 116 | | each grade level and post the number of vacancies for each grade on its public website by98 |
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| 117 | 117 | | the first day of each month. Each local school system shall measure only the capacity by99 |
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| 118 | 118 | | grade level and shall not measure capacity by specialized program. Schools shall accept100 |
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| 119 | 119 | | student transfers throughout the school year as capacity allows.101 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (d) Within 45 calendar days of the initial application to enroll in a school pursuant to the102 |
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| 121 | 121 | | open enrollment process provided for in this Code section, the local school system to which103 |
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| 122 | 122 | | the student is applying shall notify the parent or guardian of such student whether the open104 |
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| 123 | 123 | | enrollment transfer application is approved or denied. For each open enrollment transfer105 |
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| 124 | 124 | | application that is denied by a local school system:106 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (1) The local school system shall notify the parent or guardian of the student of the107 |
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| 126 | 126 | | denial in writing within five calendar days of the decision;108 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (2) The parent or guardian of the student shall be entitled to appeal the denial to the State109 |
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| 128 | 128 | | Board of Education within ten calendar days of receiving the written notification of the110 |
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| 129 | 129 | | denial by submitting to the State Board of Education and the local school superintendent111 |
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| 130 | 130 | | of the local school system that denied the open enrollment transfer application a written112 |
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| 131 | 131 | | notice of appeal on a form prescribed by the State Board of Education;113 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (3) The appeal provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be considered by the114 |
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| 133 | 133 | | State Board of Education at its next regularly scheduled meeting, where the appealing115 |
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| 134 | 134 | | parent or guardian and a representative from the local school system that denied the open116 |
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| 135 | 135 | | enrollment transfer application shall be permitted to address the State Board of117 |
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| 136 | 136 | | Education.118 |
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| 137 | 137 | | (e) If the number of students applying for enrollment in a school pursuant to the open119 |
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| 138 | 138 | | enrollment process provided for in this Code section exceeds the number of spaces that are120 |
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| 139 | 139 | | available, the local school system shall determine which such applicants to enroll on the121 |
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| 140 | 140 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 141 | 141 | | - 5 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 142 | 142 | | basis of a lottery system; provided, however, that schools of choice within a local school122 |
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| 143 | 143 | | system that have lottery enrollment policies shall not be subject to this subsection.123 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (f) Each local school system shall report annually to the State School Superintendent the124 |
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| 145 | 145 | | number of students who reside in the local school system who transferred to another local125 |
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| 146 | 146 | | school system pursuant to the open enrollment process provided for in this Code section126 |
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| 147 | 147 | | and the number of open enrollment applications that such local school system received,127 |
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| 148 | 148 | | approved, and denied, along with the reason for each denial. The State School128 |
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| 149 | 149 | | Superintendent shall publish such data annually on the Department of Education's public129 |
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| 150 | 150 | | website.130 |
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| 151 | 151 | | (g)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, no local school system131 |
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| 152 | 152 | | shall charge tuition for any transferring student enrolled in a school of such local school132 |
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| 153 | 153 | | system pursuant to the open enrollment process provided for in this Code section.133 |
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| 154 | 154 | | (2) Each local school system that enrolls a student pursuant to the open enrollment134 |
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| 155 | 155 | | process provided for in this Code section and exclusively provides virtual instruction to135 |
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| 156 | 156 | | such student shall be permitted to charge tuition for such student; provided, however, that136 |
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| 157 | 157 | | the amount of such tuition shall not exceed an amount equal to two-thirds of total137 |
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| 158 | 158 | | revenues less federal revenues less state revenues per full-time equivalent student for138 |
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| 159 | 159 | | such local school system.139 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (h) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section or any other140 |
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| 161 | 161 | | general law, and except as provided by the General Assembly by local law, a student shall141 |
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| 162 | 162 | | be allowed to attend and be enrolled in the school in which a parent or guardian of such142 |
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| 163 | 163 | | student is a full-time teacher, paraprofessional, or other employee, notwithstanding the fact143 |
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| 164 | 164 | | that such school is not located in the local unit of administration in which such student144 |
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| 165 | 165 | | resides. Each local unit of administration shall be authorized to allow a student to attend145 |
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| 166 | 166 | | and be enrolled in the school in which a parent or guardian of such student is a part-time146 |
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| 167 | 167 | | teacher, paraprofessional, or other employee who works for at least 20 hours per school147 |
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| 168 | 168 | | week on average measured monthly, notwithstanding the fact that such school is not148 |
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| 169 | 169 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 170 | 170 | | - 6 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 171 | 171 | | located in the local unit of administration in which such student resides. Each local unit |
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| 172 | 172 | | 149 |
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| 173 | 173 | | of administration of this state shall provide procedures to implement the provisions of this150 |
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| 174 | 174 | | subsection."151 |
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| 175 | 175 | | SECTION 3.152 |
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| 176 | 176 | | Said chapter is further amended in Article 34, relating to intradistrict transfers, by revising153 |
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| 177 | 177 | | Code Section 20-2-2131, relating to enrollment of students in school to which not originally154 |
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| 178 | 178 | | assigned, procedure, annual notification, and exception, as follows:155 |
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| 179 | 179 | | "20-2-2131.156 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (a)(1) Beginning in school year 2009-2010, the parent of a student enrolled in a public157 |
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| 181 | 181 | | elementary or secondary school in this state may elect to enroll such student in a public158 |
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| 182 | 182 | | school that is located within the school system in which the student resides other than the159 |
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| 183 | 183 | | one to which the student has been assigned by the local board of education if such school160 |
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| 184 | 184 | | has classroom space available after its assigned students have been enrolled. The parent161 |
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| 185 | 185 | | shall assume the responsibility and cost of transportation of the student to and from the162 |
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| 186 | 186 | | school. If the number of students seeking to enroll in a school pursuant to the open |
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| 187 | 187 | | 163 |
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| 188 | 188 | | enrollment process provided for in this Code section exceeds the number of spaces that164 |
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| 189 | 189 | | are available, the local school system shall determine which such students to enroll on the165 |
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| 190 | 190 | | basis of a lottery system.166 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (2) No later than July 1, 2009, each local school system shall establish a universal,167 |
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| 192 | 192 | | streamlined open enrollment process available to all students to implement the transfer168 |
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| 193 | 193 | | requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection.169 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (3) A student who transfers to another school pursuant to the open enrollment process170 |
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| 195 | 195 | | provided for in this subsection Code section may, at his or her election, continue to attend171 |
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| 196 | 196 | | such school until the student completes all grades of the school.172 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (4) This subsection Code section shall not be construed to affect any student currently173 |
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| 198 | 198 | | attending a school other than the school to which the student has been assigned by the174 |
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| 199 | 199 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 200 | 200 | | - 7 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 201 | 201 | | local board of education pursuant to a an authorized transfer authorized under the federal175 |
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| 202 | 202 | | No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110).176 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (5) No student shall be denied an opportunity to transfer schools pursuant to the open177 |
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| 204 | 204 | | enrollment process provided for in this Code section on the basis of his or her residential178 |
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| 205 | 205 | | address, ability, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic status.179 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (b) The department shall establish a model universal, streamlined process to implement180 |
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| 207 | 207 | | the transfer provisions of this Code section. Each local board of education shall adopt a181 |
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| 208 | 208 | | universal, streamlined transfer open enrollment process that includes, at a minimum, such182 |
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| 209 | 209 | | state model. Such local process shall include a deadline for submitting transfer requests183 |
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| 210 | 210 | | an annual determination of the enrollment capacity of each of its schools for each grade184 |
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| 211 | 211 | | level and the number of vacancies for each grade, which shall be posted on the local school185 |
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| 212 | 212 | | system's public website by the first day of each month. A local school system shall186 |
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| 213 | 213 | | measure only the capacity by grade level and shall not measure capacity by specialized187 |
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| 214 | 214 | | program. Schools shall accept student transfers throughout the school year as capacity188 |
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| 215 | 215 | | allows.189 |
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| 216 | 216 | | (c) Each local school system shall annually notify prior to each school year the parents of190 |
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| 217 | 217 | | each student by letter, by electronic means, or by such other reasonable means in a timely191 |
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| 218 | 218 | | manner of the options available to parents under this article, including all relevant dates and192 |
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| 219 | 219 | | deadlines. As a part of such annual notification process, each local school system shall193 |
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| 220 | 220 | | post in a prominent location on its public website the information required pursuant to this194 |
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| 221 | 221 | | Code section.195 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (d) Within 45 calendar days of the initial application to enroll in a school pursuant to the196 |
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| 223 | 223 | | open enrollment process provided for in this Code section, the local school system to which197 |
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| 224 | 224 | | the student is applying shall notify the parent of such student whether the transfer request198 |
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| 225 | 225 | | is approved or denied. For each open enrollment transfer request that is denied by a local199 |
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| 226 | 226 | | school system:200 |
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| 227 | 227 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 228 | 228 | | - 8 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 229 | 229 | | (1) The local school system shall notify the parent of the student of the denial in writing201 |
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| 230 | 230 | | within five calendar days of the decision;202 |
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| 231 | 231 | | (2) The parent of the student shall be entitled to appeal the denial to the State Board of203 |
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| 232 | 232 | | Education within ten calendar days of receiving the written notification of the denial by204 |
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| 233 | 233 | | submitting to the State Board of Education and the local school superintendent of the205 |
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| 234 | 234 | | local school system that denied the open enrollment transfer request a written notice of206 |
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| 235 | 235 | | appeal on a form prescribed by the State Board of Education;207 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (3) The appeal provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be considered by the208 |
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| 237 | 237 | | State Board of Education at its next regularly scheduled meeting, where the appealing209 |
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| 238 | 238 | | parent and a representative from the local school system that denied the open enrollment210 |
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| 239 | 239 | | transfer request shall be permitted to address the State Board of Education.211 |
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| 240 | 240 | | The local school system shall notify parents by July 1 of each year which schools have212 |
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| 241 | 241 | | available space and to which of these schools parents may choose to request a transfer for213 |
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| 242 | 242 | | their children.214 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (e) This Code section shall not apply to charter schools; provided, however, that each local215 |
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| 244 | 244 | | board of education shall adopt a universal, streamlined transfer process that allows for216 |
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| 245 | 245 | | transfers pursuant to paragraph (2) of subsection (d) of Code Section 20-2-2066.217 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (f) This Code section shall not apply to newly opened schools with available classroom218 |
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| 247 | 247 | | space for a period of four years after the school opens.219 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (g) Each local school system shall report annually to the State School Superintendent the220 |
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| 249 | 249 | | number of students who reside in the local school system who transferred to another school221 |
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| 250 | 250 | | within such local school system pursuant to the open enrollment process provided for in222 |
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| 251 | 251 | | this Code section and the number of transfer requests that such local school system223 |
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| 252 | 252 | | received, approved, and denied, along with the reason for each denial. The State School224 |
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| 253 | 253 | | Superintendent shall publish such data annually on the Department of Education's public225 |
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| 254 | 254 | | website."226 |
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| 255 | 255 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 256 | 256 | | - 9 - 25 LC 49 2050 |
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| 257 | 257 | | SECTION 4. |
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| 258 | 258 | | 227 |
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| 259 | 259 | | This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2025.228 |
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| 260 | 260 | | SECTION 5.229 |
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| 261 | 261 | | All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.230 |
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| 262 | 262 | | H. B. 917 |
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| 263 | 263 | | - 10 - |
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