Committee Workday: Planning Time, Teacher Tax Credit, and Other Bills Advance as Crossover Nears

Though the House and Senate were not in session today, committee work continued on school-related legislation. The House Education Committee approved seven bills, including HB 1244 by Rep. Akbar Ali (D-Lawrenceville), which protects teacher planning time and duty-free lunch from being waived. When the bill was heard in subcomittee, at which public testimony is allowed, PAGE testified in support of the bill.

An additional PAGE-supported measure was approved by Senate Finance, which passed a bill extending the teacher tax credit program for rural and high-needs schools.

House Education Budget Writers Begin Review of FY 2027 Budget

The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee met to learn more about several Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget items. Rusk Roam, chief financial officer at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), updated committee members on school social worker grants, which provide funds to school districts to ensure that each has a full-time social worker. He also provided information about the five existing completion schools, which serve students who have dropped out or are at risk of doing so. Rusk shared plans to develop a sixth completion school before wrapping his presentation by describing districts’ most common uses of school security grants: school resource officers, weapons detection systems, personal panic buttons, school mapping technology, and security cameras.

Representatives of the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network (GSAN) described the Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time (BOOST) grant program, which offers competitive grants to community-based organizations to provide high-quality afterschool and summer programs. The state added $12.5 million in the FY 2026 budget for the program, which currently funds 62 programs, including three statewide programs. GSAN hopes to sustain and expand the program.

Legislators also heard about the Leader in Me program, which is supported by state grants in 212 schools in 44 districts. According to the program’s representative, schools that began implementing the program in 2023 have seen a 25% reduction in absenteeism.

The final presentation came from representatives of No Kid Hungry Georgia, who encouraged lawmakers to invest in Sun Bucks, a federal program that provides $120 to students whose family income is below 185% of the federal poverty line during the summer when students do not receive school meals. According to presenters, if the state contributed $5 million to create state agency infrastructure to operate the program, it would receive $138 million in federal funds to provide the Sun Bucks cards.

House Education Committee Approves Slate of Bills, Including Protected Planning Time & Duty-Free Lunch for Teachers

The House Education Committee approved a long slate of bills Monday. Each now moves to the House Rules Committee for consideration.

HB 1206, by Rep. Todd Jones (R-South Forsyth) which would require local boards of education and other public school governing bodies to consider the total cost of ownership, including repair costs, flexibility for innovation, and anticipated resale or salvage value, when purchasing school technology devices. The bill requires local school governing authorities to submit a report to GaDOE on the total number of technology devices in use, as well as the rate and cost of their repairs. The bill applies to devices costing $100 or more and changes the reporting deadline to Oct. 15 of each year.

HB 1114 by Rep. Bill Yearta (R-Sylvester), which would allow Georgia high school students to complete the required financial literacy course as early as ninth grade, starting in the 2026-2027 school year. Currently, students can only complete this requirement in the 11th and 12th grades.

HB 1269 by Rep. Will Wade (R-Dahlonega) expands Georgia's current online safety standards to include instruction on digital literacy for students in grades K-12. Districts would not be required to create a new course, nor does the bill mandate a certain curriculum. Instead, it allows districts to incorporate instruction on navigating the internet safely and using online tools responsibly into existing courses.

HB 829 by Rep. Arelene Beckles (D-Norcross), which aims to strengthen online safety education by requiring GaDOE to publish guidance on best practices for secure browsing and parental controls. The bill adds information about the dangers of viewing material harmful to minors and age-verification procedures on websites and social media to the subject matter included in model programs for educating students about online safety while using the internet.

HB 1327 by Rep. Jason Ridley (R-Chatsworth) mandates the installation of at least one exterior key box at every public and private school building. The bill outlines installation requirements and provides schools and their employees with civil liability immunity for any damages arising from the installation and use of the key boxes. The substitute version of the bill, presented in committee, allows districts that already implement other technologies to continue using them instead of a key box.

HB 1244 by Rep. Akbar Ali (D-Lawrenceville), a PAGE-supported bill which would require school districts to offer teachers planning time and remove districts' ability to waive the requirement as part of a Charter System or Strategic Waiver School System (SWSS) flexibility contract. Teachers may not be required to supervise students during duty-free lunch, except in cases of an extreme emergency, defined as severe weather, mechanical failures, transportation disruptions, safety threats, or serious staffing emergencies, while stating that the lack of a substitute teacher does not qualify. Teachers who voluntarily agree to supervise students during these times outside of an extreme emergency must be compensated at an hourly rate consistent with their salary. During his bill presentation, Rep. Ali cited PAGE survey data on teacher burnout rates. Some committee members expressed concern about how the hourly rate would be funded. Rep. Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville) offered an amendment to remove the bill language that provides compensation to teachers who agree to supervise students due to these concerns. The amendment passed.

HB 1232 by Rep. Mike Cheokas (R-Americus) allows students who are members of the Girl Scouts of America to receive an excused absence for Girl Scouts-sponsored visits to the Georgia State Capitol. The bill was amended in committee to also include Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America.

Committee Chair Chris Erwin said the committee is expected to meet one more time this week, as early as tomorrow.

House Ed Committee Meeting Recording

Senate Finance Passes PAGE-Supported Teacher Tax Credit Reauthorization

The Senate Finance Committee passed SB 515 by Sen. Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro), PAGE-supported legislation to reauthorize and modify a tax credit for some teachers at low-performing and rural schools. The program will expire this year without reauthorization.

SB 515 would extend the deadline for new tax credit applications until 2031. It would also lower the tax credit for educators not already receiving the $3,000 tax credit to $2,500. It increases the cap on the number of teachers who can participate from 1,000 to 1,200. If more than 1,200 teachers apply, those in rural schools will be prioritized. Hickman’s legislation requires participating teachers to teach in statewide high-needs areas of math, special education, CTAE, or reading, writing, or ELA, provided that qualifying teachers hold a current GaPSC-approved dyslexia or reading endorsement. The committee substitute of the bill states that the total amount of these tax credits provided cannot exceed $3 million for any fiscal year. PAGE was the only educator association signed up to speak in support of the bill, but SB 515 passed without testimony being taken. SB 515 now awaits consideration by the Senate Rules Committee.

Senate Finance Meeting Recording

Upcoming Schedule

Tuesday, March 3 - Legislative Day 26

• Senate Education & Youth, 9 a.m., 307 CLOB

• Senate Retirement, 9 a.m., 310 CLOB

Wednesday, March 4 - Legislative Day 27

Thursday, March 5 - Committee Workday

• Senate Education & Youth, 1 p.m., 307 CLOB

Friday, March 6 - Day 28/Crossover Day