HB173: HB173 Education, Department of; provide parents and guardians of students entering sixth grade information regarding adolescent vaccinations in print and electronic form

Georgia law already requires the Department of Education to share some health information with parents of students moving into middle school. This bill rewrites that law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-778) to expand what parents receive and when. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, the Department of Education would have to give all parents and guardians of students entering seventh grade information on three recommended adolescent vaccines: meningococcal meningitis, HPV, and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis). The information must be provided in print, electronic form, or both, and must explain how each vaccine works, list places to find more information, and note related recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory group. The bill also keeps a related rule for local school boards that already share health information with parents in grades seven through 12 about meningitis and flu, and directs the Department of Education to work with the Department of Public Health to prepare and post this material online.

• Requires the Department of Education to give parents of students entering seventh grade (previously sixth grade) information on recommended adolescent vaccines, starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
• Expands the required vaccine information to cover meningococcal meningitis, HPV, and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis), not just meningitis and influenza.
• Specifies the information must include how each vaccine prevents disease, sources for more information, and relevant CDC advisory recommendations.
• Allows the information to be delivered in print, electronic form, or both.
• Directs the Department of Education and the Department of Public Health to jointly prepare this material and post it on the department's public website.
• Keeps a related requirement for local school boards that already share health information with parents in grades seven through 12 about meningitis and flu.

Parents and guardians of students entering seventh grade in Georgia public schools, the Department of Education, the Department of Public Health, and local school boards that distribute student health information in grades seven through 12.

Parents would receive standardized, state-prepared information about three adolescent vaccines before their child starts seventh grade, helping them make more informed decisions about vaccination. Schools and state agencies would take on new duties to prepare, distribute, and post this material starting in the 2025-2026 school year.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-778 to shift the required parent notification from sixth grade to seventh grade, beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.
• Subsection (a) lists the three vaccines covered: meningococcal meningitis, HPV, and Tdap, and requires the information to explain how each vaccine prevents disease.
• Subsection (a) also requires a list of additional information sources and any related recommendations from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
• Subsection (b) continues the existing rule that local boards sharing health information with parents in grades seven through 12 must include meningitis and flu details if they choose to distribute such information.
• Subsection (c) requires the Department of Education, working with the Department of Public Health, to develop this material and post it on the department's public website.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-02-12House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-02-10House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
4. 2025-02-03House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-30House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Darlene Taylor (R, HD-173)Primary sponsor
• Sharon Cooper (R, HD-045)
• Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)

• adolescent vaccinations
• school health policy
• middle school students
• public health notifications