HB 1325: Education; require local boards of education to provide parents and teachers opportunities to be involved in developing and updating student codes of conduct

Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-736) already requires local school boards to give parents chances to be involved in writing and updating student codes of conduct, the rules that spell out student behavior expectations and discipline. This bill would add teachers to that requirement. The change is narrow: it rewrites one sentence in subsection (c) of the existing law so that local boards of education must provide opportunities for both parents and teachers to be involved in developing and updating these codes, rather than just parents. The rest of the code section, covering distribution of the conduct code and disciplinary actions for violations, stays the same. The bill does not set a specific effective date beyond the standard process, and it repeals any conflicting laws.

• Adds teachers to the list of people local school boards must let participate in developing and updating student codes of conduct.
• Keeps the existing requirement that parents also get chances to be involved in that process.
• Leaves unchanged the rest of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-736, including rules on distributing the conduct code and disciplinary action for violations.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this change.

Local boards of education across Georgia, which must now involve teachers alongside parents in writing conduct rules; public school teachers, who gain a formal role in this process; and parents, who retain their existing involvement rights under the law.

Teachers would gain a guaranteed seat at the table when their local school board writes or updates the rules governing student behavior and discipline, changes that directly shape daily classroom management and enforcement in Georgia's public schools.

• Section 1 revises subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-736 to replace 'parental involvement' with a requirement for both parents and teachers to be involved in developing and updating student codes of conduct.
• Section 2 repeals any laws or parts of laws that conflict with this change.

1. 2026-02-19House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-18House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-17House Hopper (House)

• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)Primary sponsor
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Brent Cox (R, HD-028)
• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)

• school discipline
• student codes of conduct
• local school boards
• teacher involvement