Sine Die: Education-Friendly FY 2026 Budget Finalized, Multiple Ed Bills Move to Kemp's Desk
- Legislative Team
- Apr 4, 2025
- 8 min read
Updated: Jan 13
The marathon conclusion of the 2026 session included House and Senate approval of multiple PAGE budget priorities, including the addition of a student poverty weight, funding for student mental health, and appropriations for more school psychologists and school social workers. The House and Senate gaveled out at [insert time], but not before passing multiple PAGE-supported bills. The PAGE team was there for it all.
Senate
Agrees:
SB 17 by Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas), “Ricky and Alyssa’s Law,” requires school districts to implement a mobile panic alert system, such as Centegix, that connects directly with emergency services. Districts must procure detailed digital mapping of each public and private school in their district and provide the maps on paper and in digital format. The requirements of the bill do not pertain to private schools.
Language from this bill was already passed as part of HB 268, but SB 17 was passed as a stand-alone measure to ensure that cleanup language allowing local enforcement to approve school maps can become law.
SB 63 by Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett), which would require school districts that offer PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, ASVAB, or Advanced Placement (AP) exams to students enrolled in the district to offer the same testing to homeschool students residing in the district. School districts could not charge homeschooled students any fee to take the exams beyond what is currently charged to enrolled students.
SB 20 includes language from HB 56 by Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) to create a memorial fund for public school teachers and employees killed or disabled in the line of duty. The Georgia Student Finance Authority would manage this fund and provide tuition grants to the children and spouses of educators killed or disabled.
SB 154 by Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia), which has been characterized as a "proactive cleanup bill" in preparation for President Donald Trump's planned elimination of the U.S. Dept. of Education (USED). The bill strikes references to USED from the Georgia code.
Bills:
HB 200, by Rep. Debra Bazemore (D-South Fulton), creates a three-year immersive writing pilot program for 2nd through 5th grade students. The program will be funded with up to $2 million in grants, subject to legislative appropriation. Language requiring that elementary schools, on or after July 1, 2027, include a playground that meets certain ADA requirements was added by the House Education Committee. It also includes HB 198 by Rep. Johnny Chastain (R-Blue Ridge), which mandates that school leaders provide a written rationale for denying meetings to patriotic societies like scouting organizations, was added by the Senate.
HB 225 by Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon) entirely repeals laws allowing the use of the cameras.
HB 235 by Rep. Rick Townsend, a PAGE-supported bill to allow educators to take up to 30 days of leave for organ donation and up to seven days for bone marrow donation,.
HB 651 by Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) would limit camera operation to one hour before and after the start and end of a school day. Citations could only be issued for violations 10 mph over the posted limit, and the current $25 processing fee would no longer be allowed. HB 651 requires that half of funds raised by the cameras be allocated equally to all schools in the district for school safety. Local governments must quarterly report how much speed camera funding is provided to each school.
House
Agrees:
HB 37 by Rep. Rob Leverett (R-Elberton) directs local school districts to notify employees about whether Social Security taxes will be withheld from their pay and requires notification of employee eligibility for other pension or retirement plans. Notification must occur at least once every five years and at or near the time of employee separation from a school district. The bill was amended in the Senate to include provisions by Sen. Ed Setzler (R-Acworth) allowing school board members to carry spouses and family members on district-provided health and dental plans.
HB 105 by Rep. Will Wade (R-Dawsonville), one of Gov. Kemp's floor leaders in the House, increases the state financial award from $75,000 to $150,000 for educators killed in the line of service. F
HB 127 by Rep. Brent Cox (R-Dawsonville) was originally PAGE-supported legislation allowing teachers to use two additional days of accumulated sick leave for personal or professional leave. The Senate Education Committee stripped the bill's original language and replaced it with SB 120 by Sen. Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), which would prohibit public K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, trainings, recruitment, or retention activities. State or federal funding could be withheld from institutions violating the prohibition.
HB 217 by Rep. Soo Hong (R-Lawrenceville) was approved by the Senate Higher Education Committee late in the day on Legislative Day 33. The bill extends the sunset for the Dual Achievement Program to 2031. A Senate floor amendment added language allowing the Georgia Education Savings Authority to verify the income of Promise Scholarship applicants.
HB 371 by Rep. John Corbett (R-Lake Park) stipulates that starting in 2027 the maximum amount of funds allowed to be distributed to the capital outlay program will increase from $300 million to $375 million. The bill also includes language requiring that elementary school playgrounds built in the future meet specific ADA requirements.
Bills:
SB 21 by Sen. Blake Tillery (R-Vidalia) removes sovereign immunity from local governments, thus opening them to liability should they adopt policies conflicting with the state prohibition on immigration sanctuary policies. This waiver would apply to governments, officials, and employees violating the prohibition.
SB 148 by Sen. Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia) authorizes the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) to establish an outdoor learning spaces pilot program in select K-12 schools. It also includes language identical to HB 127 by Rep. Cox, which increases the number of sick days an educator may use for personal leave from three to five days. The bill also includes HB 629 by Rep. Lee Hawkins (R-Gainesville), which removes a requirement of having licensed physicians in automated external defibrillator programs at schools.
SB 152 by Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) would expand the Georgia Promise Scholarship private school voucher to the adopted and biological children of foster parents (but not the foster children themselves). The committee introduced a new version of the bill clarifying that students eligible to use the voucher must attend a school scoring in the lowest student-achievement quartile. After the Promise Scholarship’s creation during the 2024 session, the new state agency created to administer it interpreted the voucher’s applicability to students zoned for any school in the lowest quartile in the student’s district. This interpretation vastly expanded applicability. In the case of smaller school districts with a sole middle or high school, if that school is in the lowest quartile, every student in the district was eligible for the voucher.
SB 179 by Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) originally required that each transferring student's academic and disciplinary records be provided within five days. The records production language is included as part of comprehensive House school safety legislation currently on the governor’s desk. SB 179 now creates a high school computer science requirement for students graduating in 2037 or later. This requirement would be effective starting in the 2031-2032 school year. The legislation would also raise the per-course reimbursement rate from $250 to $350 for the Georgia Virtual School.
SB 236 by Sen. Kenya Wicks (D-Fayette), allows students of active-duty military families to enroll in the public school of the attendance zone where they intend to reside, even if they haven't yet secured housing in that zone contingent upon presenting official military orders to the local school system. If the student does not eventually reside in the intended zone, the parent or guardian must enroll the student in the school of the zone where they reside and provide proof of residency by the end of the school year. Additionally, high school juniors and seniors can remain in their current school until graduation, even if their physical residence changes.
HR 711 creates the House Study Committee on Student Attendance in PreK-12 Education.
HR 887, introduced by Rep. Shaw Blackmon (R-Bonaire), creates the House Study Committee on Reducing and Prioritizing Mandates for Public School Administration.
Education-Related FY 2026 Budget Agreement Highlights
Appropriations conferees reached agreement on the FY 2026 budget, which was then approved by the House and Senate, sending it to the governor for his signature.
$2 million increase for planning grants for state completion special schools
$500,000 for grants to school systems to encourage the authorization of locally approved charter schools under SB 82
$750,000 increase for college prep exams
$1.6 million to sustain 400mbs state-funded bandwidth through PeachNet
$18.5 million to fund 116 RESA-based literacy coaches
No funds were added for school supplies pursuant to SB 464 passed in 2024, despite a $7.5 million request from Gov. Brian Kemp
-$3 million reduction in school nutrition funding due to a decrease in the number of meals served. Instead, the budget recognizes $6,333,713 in existing state funds for breakfast and reduced-price paying students
$10.2 million for pupil transportation formula grants
$158,00 increase for required bus driver safety training
-$113 million reduction in formula funds for Equalization grants
-$115 million reduction in Local Five Mille Share funds
$300 million increase for enrollment growth and training and experience
-$298,026 reduction in formula funds for differentiated pay for newly certified math and science teachers
$21.5 million increase for the State Commission Charter School supplement
-$1.4 million decrease for charter system grant
$48,477 increase for local charter school grant
$173 million increase in the employer contribution per-member per-month (PMPM) rate for certified school employees to $1,885
$871,982 increase to fully fund Georgia’s school psychologist ratio at 1:2,420, as required by HB 283, passed in 2013
$2,500 salary increase for military counselors annualized by shifting the funding under QBE enrollment growth
-$92,608 reduction in RESA funding based on enrollment
-$92,301 reduction in formula funds for school nurses
$150,000 increase for a school safety coordinator position
$7 million for student advocacy specialist grants found in HB 268
$19.6 million to establish student mental health support grants
$2.4 million increase for social workers for school systems that, due to system size, do not earn enough for one social worker
$12.5 million for out-of-school care for statewide and community grantees
$15.3 million increase for a pilot to support economically disadvantaged students
On Sine Die Eve, Senate Retirement Prioritizes TRS Bills for Actuary
The Senate Retirement Committee met briefly April 3. Committee Chair Rick Williams (R-Milledgeville) explained the goal was to prioritize fiscal retirement legislation for actuarial study to curb costs of actuarial review. He acknowledged the House will also meet to order actuarial review of House fiscal retirement bills, and expressed hope that the two bodies, and thus Georgia taxpayers, will not be required to pay for separate fiscal studies for bills of overlapping subject matter. Committee conversation indicated around six bills would likely receive an actuarial study, though the exact number making the cut would be dependent on which bills the House Retirement Committee subsequently chooses.
The committee prioritized SB 150 by Sen. Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro) as its third choice. The legislation would continue Georgia's return-to-work program until 2034, shorten the required waiting period to 60 days, and allow retirees to return to work in all teaching positons except coaching and athletics.
SB 209 by Sen. Russ Goodman (R-Homerville) was ranked as the committee's sixth choice. SB 209 would Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) employees to make a one-time irrevocable decision to join TRS.
Williams closed the meeting by thanking those in the audience who work hard to support state retirement plans and members. The House Retirement Committee is expected to meet after session and send House fiscal retirement bills for actuarial study.
Upcoming Schedule
NONE.