HB 1257: Education; incentive grants for local boards of education to approve charter school petitions; revise provisions

Georgia currently gives local school boards a $250,000 incentive grant for each new charter school petition they approve, paid out over three years. This bill keeps that grant but caps total statewide spending on these grants at $2.25 million per year, moves the payment deadline from August 1 to September 1, and clarifies the grants apply only during a charter school's first three years of operation. It also shifts rulemaking authority for the program from the State Charter Schools Commission to the state board. The bill changes who reports to whom within the Office of Charter School Compliance, allows nonprofit companies (not just nonprofit corporations) to be charter petitioners, and lets a subsidiary controlled by a nonprofit organization serve as a state charter school's governing board. It also tightens the rules for existing charter schools that want to convert to state charters, requiring a local board vote to terminate or nonrenew the charter first, and shortens the period a former charter operator must retain school records from one year to 180 days.

• Caps the statewide total for charter school incentive grants at $2.25 million per fiscal year, splitting funds proportionally if demand exceeds that amount.
• Moves rulemaking authority for the incentive grant program from the State Charter Schools Commission to the state board and changes the grant payment deadline from August 1 to September 1.
• Limits incentive grant payments to the first three years of a new charter school's operation rather than an open-ended three-year window after approval.
• Allows nonprofit companies, not just nonprofit corporations, to serve as charter school petitioners, with exceptions for public schools and government entities.
• Requires a local board of education to have voted to terminate, nonrenew, or otherwise fail to renew a charter before the State Charter Schools Commission can act on that school's petition to convert to a state charter.
• Shortens from one year to 180 days the time a former charter operator must retain and then transfer student and school records to the commission after closing.

Local boards of education that authorize charter schools, the State Board of Education, the State Charter Schools Commission and its Office of Charter School Compliance, nonprofit organizations and companies that run charter schools, and students and families whose records are affected when a charter school closes or converts.

Local school boards that approve new charter schools would still get financial incentives to do so, but the state's total payout is now capped, meaning grants could shrink if many boards approve charters in the same year. Charter operators face a shorter records retention window and tighter rules for converting to state charters.

• Section 1 caps annual incentive grant spending at $2.25 million, moves the payment deadline to September 1, and limits payments to a school's first three years of operation.
• Section 2 lets nonprofit companies, in addition to nonprofit corporations, serve as charter petitioners under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2065.
• Section 3 shifts reporting lines for the Office of Charter School Compliance to the state board and revises its duties, including administering charter school grant programs.
• Section 4 allows a subsidiary controlled by a nonprofit organization to act as a state charter school's governing board under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2081.
• Section 5 requires a local board to vote to terminate or nonrenew a charter before the State Charter Schools Commission can act on that school's petition to become a state charter school.
• Section 6 shortens the record retention period for closed charter schools from one year to 180 days before records must transfer to the commission.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-10House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-09House Hopper (House)

• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)Primary sponsor
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)
• Sandy Donatucci (R, HD-105)
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)

• charter schools
• education funding
• school boards
• state charter schools commission