SB148: SB148 Public School Property and Facilities; outdoor learning spaces pilot program; provide

This bill makes several separate changes to Georgia's education laws. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, local school boards may offer hunting safety instruction in grades six through 12, using content standards the State Board of Education must adopt by April 1, 2026, and taught by instructors certified through the Department of Natural Resources. The bill also lets the Department of Education run a pilot program, starting in the 2025-2026 school year, to test outdoor learning spaces at selected schools, with a report due after three years. It removes the current requirement that a licensed physician be involved in a school's automated external defibrillator (AED) program, while keeping other AED training and drill requirements. Finally, it raises the number of accumulated sick leave days school personnel may use each year for personal or professional reasons from three to five.

• Authorizes local school boards to offer hunting safety instruction in grades six through 12 starting in the 2026-2027 school year, using state-approved content standards.
• Requires hunting safety instructors to be certified as hunter education instructors by the Department of Natural Resources.
• Creates a Department of Education pilot program to develop outdoor learning spaces at selected schools, funded partly by private and local money, running at least three years with a report to legislative education committees.
• Removes the requirement that a licensed physician or Georgia Composite Medical Board-authorized person be involved in a school's automated external defibrillator (AED) program.
• Increases the number of accumulated sick leave days school personnel can use per year for personal or professional reasons from three to five.

Local school boards and superintendents, public school students in grades six through 12, hunter education instructors certified by the Department of Natural Resources, school staff who manage AED programs and emergency drills, and all public school teachers and personnel who use sick leave.

Schools would gain new options: teaching hunting safety, building outdoor classrooms, and running AED programs without needing physician oversight. School employees would also get two extra paid personal or professional days each year, changing day-to-day staffing and leave decisions for districts statewide.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-308 to let local boards teach hunting safety in grades six through 12 starting in 2026-2027, with State Board content standards due by April 1, 2026, based on Department of Natural Resources hunter education courses.
• Section 2 adds new O.C.G.A. § 20-2-590 creating an outdoor learning spaces pilot program at selected schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, requiring at least three years of program continuation and a final evaluation report to House and Senate education committees.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-775 to remove the requirement for a licensed physician or medical board-authorized person in a school's AED program, while keeping training, notification, maintenance, drill, and internal response team requirements.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-851 to raise the personal or professional sick leave allowance for school personnel from three days to five days per year.
• Section 5 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-05Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-05Act 398
3. 2026-05-05Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-01-28Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2025-04-04House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2025-04-04House Third Readers (House)
8. 2025-03-25House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)

• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)Primary sponsor
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Soo Hong (R, HD-103)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2025

   53 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 0 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #205

2. PassedHouse voteApril 4, 2025

   165 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #445

3. PassedSenate voteJanuary 28, 2026

   50 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #503

• hunting safety education
• school sick leave policy
• outdoor learning spaces
• school defibrillators
• Georgia public schools