Georgia CommonsHB 1410: Georgia Student Vision and Literacy Readiness Act; enact
Last action February 25, 2026 · House Second Readers
HB1410 would require Georgia public schools to give students vision screenings at set grade levels, notify parents, and create a state fund to help pay for eye exams and glasses for students who need them.
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 currently requires eye examinations or screenings mainly when a child enters first grade. This bill would expand that system by requiring every public school student in kindergarten through grade 12 to receive a vision screening at initial enrollment and again in kindergarten and grades one, three, five, seven, and ten, starting no later than August 1, 2027. Screenings could be done by school nurses, trained staff, contracted health professionals, optometrists, ophthalmologists, or certified contractors. Parents would get advance notice and could opt their child out. Parents of children who fail a screening would be notified within ten school days and given a referral for a full eye exam, plus information about financial help. Schools would report screening data yearly, and the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Health would share de-identified data to connect vision outcomes with literacy performance. The bill also creates the Georgia Vision Access Fund to pay for screening equipment, training, and eye care for uninsured students, funded by state money, grants, and donations. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Requires vision screenings for all K-12 public school students at enrollment and at specific grade levels (kindergarten, 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10) by August 1, 2027.
- Requires schools to notify parents at least five school days before a scheduled screening and allow them to opt their child out.
- Requires notification to parents within ten school days if a child fails a screening, along with a referral for a full eye exam and information on financial assistance.
- Requires schools to try to confirm completed eye exams and close referral cases within sixty school days.
- Creates the Georgia Vision Access Fund within the Department of Public Health to pay for screening equipment, staff training, eye exams, glasses, and related costs for uninsured or underinsured students.
- Directs the Department of Public Health and State Board of Education to jointly develop standards for screenings and a data-sharing system linking vision results to statewide literacy performance.
Who it affects
Public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade and their parents or guardians, local school systems and school health staff, the Department of Public Health, the State Board of Education, and eye care providers such as optometrists and ophthalmologists who may receive referrals or funding through the new program.
Why it matters
Families would see more frequent, technology based vision checks for their children, earlier notice of vision problems tied to reading difficulties, and new financial help for exams and glasses. Schools and health agencies would take on new screening, reporting, and data-sharing duties tied to firm deadlines.
Key provisions
- Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-770 to require vision screenings at enrollment and at kindergarten and grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10, no later than August 1, 2027.
- Subsection (d) lists who may perform screenings, including school nurses, licensed optometrists and ophthalmologists, and Department of Public Health certified contractors.
- Subsections (e) and (f) set parent notice requirements: five school days advance notice for opt-out, and ten school days after a failed screening, with a referral included.
- Subsection (g) requires schools to verify completed eye exams and close referrals within sixty school days.
- Subsection (h) requires annual reporting of screening numbers, failed screenings, and completed exams to the State Board of Education.
- Section 4 creates the Georgia Vision Access Fund (new O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-21) funded by state appropriations, grants, and donations to cover equipment, training, and eye care costs.
- Subsection (c) of the new Code section requires the Department of Public Health to set and update, every five years, evidence based screening standards.
- Section 5 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.
From the bill
“each local school system and public school shall ensure that every student enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 in such school system or school receives a vision screening upon initial enrollment and at each of the following levels: kindergarten and grades one, three, five, seven, and ten”
“There is created the Georgia Vision Access Fund as a separate fund in the state treasury, to be administered by the Department of Public Health”
“The parent or legal guardian of a student subject to a scheduled vision screening at a school shall be notified at least five school days prior to such screening being conducted at such school and given the opportunity to opt the student out of such screening.”
Status timeline
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)
- Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
- Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
- Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)
Topics
- school vision screening
- student health
- literacy readiness
- Department of Public Health
- education funding