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House · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 1259: Education; prohibit virtual instruction to out-of-system students if the local school system has a College and Career Ready Performance Index below the state average

Last action March 31, 2026 · Senate Tabled

HB 1259 would bar local school systems in Georgia from providing virtual instruction to out-of-district students if the district's academic performance score has averaged below 65 for two straight years, and would stop counting those virtual students toward state equalization funding.

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These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

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 Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia law currently lets local school systems enroll students who live in other districts (called out-of-system students) in virtual schools. HB 1259 changes the rules for those arrangements. It amends Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-167.2) to block a local school system or its virtual school from offering virtual instruction to out-of-system students in any year following two straight school years where its College and Career Ready Performance Index (the state's school rating score) averaged below 65. The bill also says out-of-system students can no longer be counted when a district calculates its eligibility for equalization funds, a form of state aid meant to help lower-wealth districts. Districts that enroll out-of-system students must compile a full list of them twice a year, on October 1 and March 1. The changes would take effect July 1, 2027.

What the bill does

  • Bars a local school system or its virtual school from enrolling out-of-system students in virtual instruction if its College and Career Ready Performance Index averaged below 65 over the previous two school years.
  • Prohibits counting out-of-system students toward a district's eligibility for equalization funds under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165.
  • Requires any local school system enrolling out-of-system students to compile a complete list of them as of October 1 and March 1 each year.
  • Keeps existing requirements that districts with over 5 percent out-of-system enrollment spend 90 percent of related funds on those students' virtual instruction and include their results in performance data.
  • Exempts this Code section from waivers otherwise available to strategic waivers school systems, charter systems, charter schools, and certain other flexibility programs.
  • Sets the effective date as July 1, 2027.

Who it affects

Local school districts that run virtual schools enrolling students from other districts, the out-of-system students and families who rely on those virtual programs, and districts that receive equalization funding, since those funds would be calculated without counting out-of-system virtual students.

Why it matters

Students living in lower-performing districts could lose access to virtual schooling options offered by other districts once those districts' performance scores fall below the threshold for two years. Districts would also see their equalization funding calculated differently, which could shift the state aid some school systems receive.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-167.2, adding a new rule barring virtual instruction to out-of-system students when a district's Performance Index has averaged below 65 for the prior two school years.
  • Section 1 also adds a requirement that districts enrolling out-of-system students compile a list of them twice yearly, on October 1 and March 1.
  • Section 1 excludes out-of-system students from counting toward equalization funds under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165.
  • Section 1 keeps the existing rule that districts with more than 5 percent out-of-system enrollment must spend 90 percent of related funds on those students' virtual instruction.
  • Section 1 exempts this Code section from several existing waiver programs for strategic waivers systems, charter systems, charter schools, and flexibility contracts.
  • Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2027.
  • Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

From the bill

“Not provide virtual instruction to out-of-system students in the current academic year if the local school system or its virtual school has failed to maintain an average of 65 or above on the College and Career Ready Performance Index over the previous two school years.”

This is the bill's core restriction, cutting off virtual instruction to out-of-district students when a district's performance score is too low.

“No local school system shall include any such out-of-system student in any count for purposes related to qualifying for equalization funds pursuant to Code Section 20-2-165.”

This bars districts from counting out-of-system virtual students when calculating their eligibility for state equalization aid.

Discussed in meetings (13)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. House Education Committee, February 19, 2026

    From 0:20:08 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute to HB 1259 intended to prevent districts and management companies from collecting education funding through low-performing virtual schools. The sponsor described earlier audit findings involving statewide enrollment, spending, and enrollment limits, and said protections adopted in 2016 expired in 2019. The sponsor cited Jenkins County Virtual Academy achievement scores of 27 for elementary school, 26 for middle school, and 19 for high school. According to the sponsor, the substitute would require a district or its virtual school to maintain an average College and Career Ready Performance Index score of at least 70 over the previous two years to enroll out-of-district students. It would also exclude those students when calculating district equalization funding. The sponsor said school-choice advocates supported the proposal. No substantive questions were asked, and the committee approved the substitute by voice vote.

  2. House Rules Committee, February 25, 2026

    From 1:19:02 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1581

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1259 would clarify minimum performance standards for a local school system seeking to operate a virtual school with statewide enrollment. No questions or scheduling decision followed.

  3. House floor session, February 25, 2026 (legislative day 24)

    From 4:55:18 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1581

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1259 would require a minimum level of student performance for a local school system operating a virtual school with statewide enrollment and out-of-district students. The sponsor described it as a cleanup measure that had passed the Education Committee unanimously. No questions were asked. The House adopted the committee substitute and passed the bill 169 to 0.

  4. House Rules Committee, February 25, 2026

    From 0:21:50 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the 2026 House Journal, p. 1581

    Summary by Georgia Commons: Following a motion and second, the chair added HB 1259 to the supplemental calendar under modified structure without stated opposition. No provisions were discussed.

  5. Senate Education and Youth Committee, March 24, 2026

    From 0:43:25 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute requiring a district or its virtual school to average at least 70 on the College and Career Ready Performance Index over two years to enroll out-of-district virtual students. The sponsor said it would also exclude those students from enrollment used to calculate district equalization funding and would not affect charter schools. The sponsor said only Jenkins County’s virtual academy would currently be affected, reporting 1,524 students, only two from Jenkins County, and elementary, middle and high school scores of 34, 41 and 28, compared with statewide averages of 79, 78 and 77. The sponsor said the operator had twice been denied a state charter and twice withdrawn applications after unfavorable staff recommendations. One member supported the sponsor’s oversight concerns. Other members questioned the two-year standard, comparisons with traditional schools, missing information about students’ prior performance and parents’ reasons for choosing the school. Another member estimated transfers to statewide virtual charters could cost roughly $6 million more. The sponsor said students had other school options and stronger oversight justified higher costs, but lacked parent-complaint and progress data. Another member defended elected school boards as a form of accountability. The chair deferred a vote, requested further discussions and said opposing testimony could be heard Thursday.

  6. Senate Education and Youth Committee, March 26, 2026

    From 0:37:02 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The committee resumed HB 1259 after an earlier hearing. Members discussed restricting statewide virtual instruction based on school-performance scores. One member proposed delaying implementation from 2026 to 2030, arguing that the affected school needed time to demonstrate results and that roughly 1,500 students would otherwise face a rapid transfer. That member estimated transfers to statewide virtual charter schools could cost about $5,000 more per student. Other members opposed delay, arguing that the operator had bypassed charter-school approval and should not benefit from doing so. The sponsor said other virtual-school options were available and opposed postponement. Asked about the proposed score of 70, the sponsor said it was below the statewide average and intended to provide accountability. The 2030 proposal was withdrawn. Members then approved, 7-3, an amendment lowering the score to 65 and moving implementation to 2028. A second amendment changing the date to 2027 also passed 7-3. Another member proposed barring new enrollment while protecting current students, but the committee moved to a final vote without voting on that proposal. The chair announced that the amended bill passed, without a final vote count.

  7. Senate Rules Committee, March 30, 2026

    From 0:37:46 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1259 would require a school system to meet a minimum educational performance level before serving out-of-district students through a locally approved virtual school. A brief question clarified the word minimum. The chair added it to the selections, and the committee unanimously approved the calendar containing it.

  8. Senate floor session, March 31, 2026 (legislative day 39, part 1)

    From 7:46:16 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The Rules chair moved to set aside HB 1259 to give opposing sides more time to work out disagreements. The clerk described restrictions on virtual instruction for out-of-system students when a district's performance index was below the state average, interdistrict agreement requirements and exclusion of those students from equalization funding counts. No details of the disagreement were given. The Senate tabled the bill without objection.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-31Senate Third Read (Senate)
  3. 2026-03-27Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  4. 2026-03-27Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
  5. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  6. 2026-02-25House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
  7. 2026-02-25House Third Readers (House)
  8. 2026-02-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
Show full history (11 actions)
  1. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)
  2. 2026-02-10House First Readers (House)
  3. 2026-02-09House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • Matt Dubnik (R, HD-29)Primary sponsor
  • Chris Erwin (R, HD-32)
  • Matt Hatchett (R, HD-155)
  • Todd Jones (R, HD-25)
  • Billy Hickman (R, SD-4)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 25, 2026

    169 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 5 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #562

Topics

  • virtual schools
  • education funding
  • school performance standards
  • equalization funds
  • out-of-district enrollment

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