HB451: HB451 Quality Basic Education Act; local boards shall be authorized to provide instruction in hunting safety in grades six through 12; provide

This bill, now called the Student Character Development Act, changes Georgia's compulsory attendance law (O.C.G.A. Title 20, Chapter 2). It requires every local education agency (school district) to adopt, by August 1, 2026, a policy allowing students to leave school for at least one hour a week to attend a 'released time course,' meaning religious moral instruction taught by an outside individual or organization, not by the school itself. Parents must consent in writing, the outside provider must track attendance and pass a criminal records check, and transportation is generally the family's responsibility unless the provider offers it with parental consent. Students attending these courses cannot be marked absent. Districts may, but do not have to, award academic credit for completing the course, judged only on secular criteria like instruction hours and instructor qualifications, never on religious content. Schools are shielded from civil liability for injuries during private transportation to these courses. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it. Note the bill's caption still references hunting safety instruction, but the substitute text passed by the Senate replaces that content entirely with these released time course provisions.

• Requires every Georgia school district to adopt, by August 1, 2026, a policy letting students leave school at least one hour a week for outside religious moral instruction classes.
• Requires written parental consent, attendance tracking by the outside provider, and a criminal records check for anyone teaching the class.
• Prohibits marking a student absent from school while they attend one of these released time courses.
• Allows, but does not require, districts to grant academic credit for completing the course, based only on secular measures like instructional hours and course materials, not religious content.
• Shields school districts and their employees from civil liability for injuries during private transportation to and from the course.
• Directs the Department of Education to help districts keep their state and federal funding regardless of how many students take part, and to write model policies for districts to use.

Public school students in grades affected by their district's policy, their parents or guardians, local school boards and administrators who must write and enforce the new policy, outside religious organizations offering the courses, and the Georgia Department of Education, which must issue guidance and protect district funding.

Families who want their children to receive religious instruction during the school day would gain a formal, statewide right to do so without being marked absent, and some districts could begin granting academic credit for it, while districts take on new administrative duties like background checks and record-keeping.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Student Character Development Act.'
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 20-2-692.5 defining 'released time course' as religious moral instruction given independently of the public school.
• Subsection (b) requires districts to adopt an excusal policy by August 1, 2026, covering parental consent, attendance records, transportation responsibility, and provider liability for student safety during the course.
• Subsection (c) requires a criminal records check for anyone providing a released time course.
• Subsection (d) lets districts award academic credit for the course using only secular criteria such as instruction hours, syllabus review, assessment methods, and instructor qualifications.
• Subsection (e) protects districts and employees from civil liability for injuries during privately arranged transportation to the course.
• Subsection (f) states students attending a released time course are not considered absent from school.
• Subsection (g) directs the Department of Education to protect district funding levels and issue model policies.

1. 2026-03-27Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
2. 2026-03-27Senate Third Read (Senate)
3. 2026-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
5. 2025-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
6. 2025-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)

• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)Primary sponsor
• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2025

   159 yea, 16 nay (1 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #228

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   32 yea, 18 nay (1 not voting, 3 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #1 By The Senator From The 37th: Senate Vote #831

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   33 yea, 18 nay (0 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #832

• religious instruction in schools
• school attendance policy
• student privacy and safety
• public school curriculum
• released time courses