HB106: HB106 Safe Teens Act; enact

Georgia law already allows students to get elective course credit for completing an approved driver education training course, but it does not clearly authorize local school boards to offer such a course themselves or spell out how it would be paid for. This bill amends the Quality Basic Education Act to explicitly authorize local boards of education and other public school governing bodies to offer an elective driver education training course for high school students, approved by the Department of Driver Services. The bill lists three funding sources schools can use, alone or combined: local board funds, student fees (with a rule that unpaid fees cannot block a student from getting course credit), and state funds allocated under State Board of Education rules, subject to legislative appropriation. It also updates a related enrollment-counting statute to keep the driver education exception consistent, and updates the existing driver education grant statute for public secondary schools and school systems. The bill is titled the 'Safe Teens Act.'

• Authorizes local boards of education and other public school governing bodies to offer an elective driver education training course for high school students.
• Allows schools to fund the course using local board funds, student fees, state funds, or a combination of the three.
• Specifies that a student's failure to pay course fees cannot disqualify them from earning elective credit for completing the course.
• Requires any state funding for the course to be allocated according to State Board of Education rules and remain subject to legislative appropriation.
• Updates a related enrollment-counting law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-160) so the driver education course exception stays consistent with the revised elective rules.
• Retains the existing state grant program (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-257) that helps public secondary schools pay for driver education courses and programs.

High school students who might take driver education for elective credit, local boards of education and other public school governing bodies deciding whether to offer the course, the State Board of Education and Department of Education setting funding rules, and the Department of Driver Services, which approves the courses and licenses instructors.

If enacted, more Georgia high schools could offer driver education as a regular elective, with clearer options for covering costs through school funds, student fees, or state money. Students who cannot afford fees would still be able to earn credit, and schools would gain more certainty about how to structure and pay for the course.

• Section 1 gives the bill the short title 'Safe Teens Act.'
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-151.2 to authorize local boards of education or other public school governing bodies to offer an elective driver education training course for one-half unit of credit, and lists local funds, student fees, and state funds (subject to appropriation) as allowed funding sources.
• Section 2 states that unpaid student fees cannot disqualify a student from receiving elective credit for completing the course.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-160, which governs how student enrollment counts are determined, to keep the driver education course exception aligned with the revised elective course rules.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-257 to continue state board grants, subject to appropriation, to public secondary schools and local school systems for driver education courses and programs.
• Section 5 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-01-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-17House Hopper (House)

• Imani Barnes (D, HD-086)Primary sponsor
• Anne Westbrook (D, HD-163)
• Kimberly Alexander (D, HD-066)
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)
• Jasmine Clark (D, HD-108)

• driver education
• public schools
• high school electives
• school funding