HB442: HB442 Education; students shall not be counted absent from school due to performing in certain productions; provisions

Under current Georgia law, students who miss school to work in film, television, stage, modeling, or other productions can be marked absent even when a tutor or 'studio teacher' is providing lessons on set. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's compulsory attendance law (O.C.G.A. Title 20) that lets these 'student performers' be counted present, not absent, for up to 25 school days total in a year while performing. To qualify, a parent or guardian and either a child labor coordinator or studio teacher must fill out a performance certification describing the curriculum and content standards covered during the time missed, and submit it to the student's school upon return. If a performance runs three or more consecutive school days, the employing production and its child labor coordinator must make sure the studio teacher's instruction matches what the student's actual school is teaching. Parents must also authorize communication between the studio teacher and school staff, including sharing certain education records. The Department of Labor, working with the Department of Education, would create the certification form and related rules.

• Creates a new Georgia law letting student performers be marked present, not absent, for up to 25 school days spent performing in a production.
• Requires a performance certification form, filled out by a parent or guardian and a child labor coordinator or studio teacher, before absences can be excused this way.
• Requires that instruction given by a studio teacher align with the student's actual school curriculum, with stricter alignment rules once a production runs three or more consecutive school days.
• Requires parents to authorize sharing of the student's education records between studio teachers and school staff so attendance can be properly documented.
• Directs the Department of Labor, in consultation with the Department of Education, to create the certification form and write rules to carry out the law.

Student performers under 18 (and some enrolled students over 18) working in stage, film, television, internet, modeling, or other productions; their parents or guardians; studio teachers and child labor coordinators who supervise them; production companies employing them; and public schools and the Departments of Labor and Education that manage certification and compliance.

Families of working child performers would no longer have to choose between school attendance records and job opportunities, since certified time on set would count as present rather than absent. Schools and state agencies would take on new paperwork and coordination duties to verify the education students receive while performing.

• Adds new Code Section 20-2-692.4 to Georgia's compulsory attendance law, defining terms like 'child labor coordinator,' 'employing unit,' 'production,' 'student performer,' and 'studio teacher.'
• Subsection (b) allows up to 25 school days of performance-related absence per year to be credited as present, based on a completed performance certification submitted upon the student's return to school.
• Subsection (c)(1) makes parents, studio teachers, child labor coordinators, and employing units jointly responsible for ensuring instruction fits the student's age, grade level, and skill level.
• Subsection (c)(2) imposes stricter curriculum-alignment duties on employing units and child labor coordinators when a performance lasts three or more consecutive school days.
• Subsection (c)(3) requires parental authorization for studio teachers and school staff to share education records, citing the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
• Subsection (d) directs the Department of Labor, after consulting the Department of Education, to create the certification form and supporting rules.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2025-02-19House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-18House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-13House Hopper (House)

• Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)Primary sponsor
• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)
• Rhonda Burnough (D, HD-077)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)

• school attendance
• child performers
• education law
• student privacy
• child labor