HB 202: Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act of 2025; enact

Georgia law currently lets local school boards or the State Charter Schools Commission approve charter school petitions. This bill, called the Local Charter School Authorization and Support Act of 2025, changes how that process works. It directs the State Charter Schools Commission to create a grant program that pays local school boards $100,000 a year for three years for each new charter school they approve, funded subject to available state money. The bill also requires local boards that deny a charter petition to send a detailed written statement to the State Board of Education and the Office of Charter School Compliance within ten days, and to publish it online. If a local school system with more than 10,000 students denies two or more petitions that the state later approves anyway, that district could lose its charter system or strategic waivers status for up to three years. The Office of Charter School Compliance also gets new duties to write evaluation guidelines and help districts. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Creates a grant program paying local school boards $100,000 per year for three years for each new local charter school they approve after June 30, 2025.
• Requires local boards that deny a charter petition to send a written statement of reasons to the State Board of Education and the Office of Charter School Compliance within ten days and publish it online.
• Bars large school districts (over 10,000 students) from renewing charter system or strategic waivers status for up to three years if they deny two or more petitions that the State Charter Schools Commission later approves.
• Directs the Office of Charter School Compliance to prepare evaluation guidelines and a standardized rubric for local boards reviewing charter petitions.
• Expands the state's annual charter school report to cover more recipients, including legislative leaders and budget officials, and adds new required content on local board compliance.

Local school boards and school district administrators who review charter school petitions, charter school founders and operators seeking approval, the State Charter Schools Commission, the State Board of Education, the Office of Charter School Compliance, and students in districts with more than 10,000 enrolled students.

Districts that approve new charter schools could gain significant state funding to support oversight, while large districts that repeatedly reject petitions later approved by the state could temporarily lose flexibility granted through charter system or strategic waivers status, changing incentives around how local boards handle charter applications.

• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2064 to require written denial statements within ten days (shortened from 60) covering deficiencies, school choice access, and academic performance data.
• Section 3 also creates accountability rules: districts over 10,000 students that deny two or more petitions later approved by the state lose eligibility to renew charter system or waiver status for up to three years, with an exception for contracts expiring by July 1, 2025.
• Section 4 adds new Code Section 20-2-2064.2 establishing the incentive grant program, setting the $100,000 annual grant amount and specifying it applies only to new petitions, not renewals.
• Section 4 allows grant funds to be used for hiring staff, oversight, compliance monitoring, and professional development related to charter authorization.
• Section 5 expands Office of Charter School Compliance duties to include preparing published evaluation guidelines with criteria, best practices, hearing procedures, and a standardized rubric.
• Section 6 changes the annual charter school report's recipients to include House and Senate leadership, relevant committee chairs, and the Office of Planning and Budget.
• Section 7 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without signature.

1. 2025-02-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-30House Hopper (House)

• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)Primary sponsor
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Carmen Rice (R, HD-139)
• Will Wade (R, HD-009)

• charter schools
• public education funding
• school boards
• education policy