Georgia CommonsHB 1231: Education; teachers shall not be required to supervise students during their duty-free lunch period or planning period except in cases of extreme emergency; provide
Last action February 10, 2026 · House Second Readers
A Georgia House bill would limit when public school teachers can be asked to give up their duty-free lunch or planning period, requiring pay when they do it outside a genuine emergency, and blocking school systems from waiving these protections.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia law already requires most K-12 teachers to get a daily duty-free lunch period and a daily planning period. Current law lets school systems require teachers to give those up, without extra pay, during 'extenuating circumstances' like economic conditions or unexpected staffing shortages. This bill narrows that exception sharply: schools could only require teachers to supervise students during lunch or planning time in a defined 'extreme emergency,' such as severe weather, an armed threat, a transportation breakdown, or the illness or death of teachers. A simple lack of a substitute teacher would no longer count as an emergency. Outside of an extreme emergency, a school system could only ask, not require, a teacher to give up that time, and if the teacher agrees, the bill requires the teacher be paid an hourly rate based on their salary. The bill also bars several kinds of Georgia schools, including charter systems and schools operating under waivers, from waiving this protection at all. The changes take effect July 1, 2026, starting with the 2026-2027 school year.
What the bill does
- Defines 'extreme emergency' narrowly (severe weather, armed threats, transportation disruptions, or teacher illness or death) as the only situation where a school can require a teacher to give up lunch or planning time without new limits.
- States that a lack of an available substitute teacher does not count as an extreme emergency, closing a common current justification.
- Requires school systems to pay a teacher an hourly rate based on their salary if the teacher agrees to supervise students during lunch or planning time outside an extreme emergency.
- Changes schools' power in non-emergency situations from requiring supervision to only being able to request it.
- Blocks strategic waivers school systems, charter systems, charter schools, completion special schools, and IE2 schools from waiving these duty-free lunch and planning period protections.
- Sets the law to take effect July 1, 2026, applying starting with the 2026-2027 school year.
Who it affects
Public school teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade in Georgia, especially those in grades kindergarten through five who are entitled to duty-free lunch periods; local school boards and superintendents who schedule staff coverage; and certain school types such as charter systems, charter schools, strategic waivers school systems, and completion special schools that currently have waiver flexibility.
Why it matters
Teachers who currently lose lunch or planning time to cover staffing gaps would gain new pay protections and a much narrower set of circumstances where that time could be required rather than requested. School systems facing routine staffing shortages could no longer treat that as grounds to require uncompensated coverage.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-218(a) to add a specific definition of 'extreme emergency' covering severe weather, mechanical or electrical failure, armed attacks or threats, transportation disruption, or teacher illness or death.
- Subsection (e) limits mandatory supervision during lunch or planning periods to extreme emergencies only, removing 'extenuating circumstances' like economic conditions or unforeseen staffing shortages as valid reasons.
- New subsection (f) allows schools to request, but not require, supervision outside an extreme emergency, and requires hourly pay tied to the teacher's salary if the teacher agrees.
- New subsection (i) prohibits waiving these duty-free lunch and planning period requirements under several named waiver programs, including strategic waivers school systems and charter systems.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
From the bill
“'Extreme emergency' means severe weather conditions, interference caused by electrical or mechanical failure at a school, a disruption caused by an armed attack or threat directed at a school, a disruption of transportation systems resulting in significant changes in the availability of teachers, or the illness or death of one or more teachers.”
“The mere lack of an available substitute teacher shall not constitute an extreme emergency.”
“In the event that a teacher supervises students after agreeing to such a request, such teacher shall be compensated at an hourly rate consistent with his or her salary.”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- John Corbett (R, HD-174)
- Martin Momtahan (R, HD-017)
- Don Parsons (R, HD-044)
- Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
- David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
Topics
- teacher pay
- school scheduling
- teacher planning time
- education law
- school district waivers