SB123: SB123 Compulsory Attendance; provisions of the state's compulsory school attendance laws; update and revise

Georgia law already requires children ages 6 to 16 to attend public school, private school, or a home study program, and each county has a student attendance and school climate committee to address absenteeism. This bill updates that framework. It bars public schools from expelling a student solely because of absences, and it requires each county's attendance committee to meet by November 1, 2025, and at least twice a year after that, and to adopt a written attendance protocol by June 1, 2026. The bill also defines "chronically absent" as missing 10 percent or more of enrolled school days, and requires local school systems with high absenteeism rates to set up attendance review teams that build intervention plans for chronically absent students and their families. It separately makes students who take military service or National Guard entrance tests and physical exams count as present rather than absent, and it makes several conforming wording changes elsewhere in the compulsory attendance code. The changes take effect July 1, 2025.

• Prohibits public schools from expelling a student based solely on that student's absences from school.
• Requires each county's student attendance and school climate committee to meet by November 1, 2025, and at least twice annually afterward.
• Requires those committees to adopt a written student attendance protocol by June 1, 2026, up from an earlier 2005 deadline.
• Defines chronic absenteeism (10 percent or more of enrolled school days missed) and requires local school systems above that threshold to create attendance review teams and intervention plans.
• Credits students taking military service or National Guard entrance tests and physical exams as present rather than marking them absent.
• Requires the Department of Education to report county-by-county compliance and attendance data to House and Senate education committees starting in 2026.

The bill affects public school students and families dealing with absenteeism, local boards of education and school administrators who must set up attendance review teams, county superior court chief judges who run local attendance committees, and students pursuing military or National Guard service who take entrance exams during school hours.

Students facing chronic absenteeism would gain a formal review and support process instead of facing expulsion for missed school alone, while counties and school districts take on new deadlines for meetings, protocols, and, in high-absenteeism districts, dedicated review teams to intervene before problems escalate.

• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690.1 to state that no student shall be expelled from a public school solely due to absences.
• Section 3 requires county student attendance and school climate committees to meet by November 1, 2025, and at least twice a year afterward, and to adopt attendance protocols by June 1, 2026.
• Section 3 also requires the Department of Education to send a county-by-county compliance report to legislative education committees starting in 2026.
• Section 4 adds a new Code Section 20-2-690.3 defining 'chronically absent' as 10 percent or more of enrolled school days missed and requiring local systems above that threshold to form attendance review teams that meet monthly.
• Section 6 adds a new Code Section 20-2-692.4 crediting students taking military service or National Guard tests and physical exams as present rather than absent.
• Section 10 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

1. 2025-04-28Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-04-28Act 16
3. 2025-04-28Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-03-25House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-03-25House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-21House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)

• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)Primary sponsor
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Brandon Beach (R, SD-021)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 26, 2025

   54 yea, 0 nay (0 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #96

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2025

   160 yea, 1 nay (10 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #305

• school attendance
• student absenteeism
• school discipline
• education policy
• military enlistment testing