--- title: HB 27. Investing in Every Student Act; enact collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb27 cite_as: HB 27, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb27 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb27.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb27/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69307 date: 2025-01-15 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb26.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb28.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb27.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 27 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-01-13 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Sandra Scott - Kim Schofield - Viola Davis text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB27/2025 upstream_id: 1916900 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - education funding - student poverty - homeless students - foster care - Quality Basic Education Act --- # HB 27. Investing in Every Student Act; enact ## Text House Bill 27 By: Representatives Scott of the 76th, Schofield of the 63rd, and Davis of the 87th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Part 5 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to program weights and funding requirements under the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to provide for grants by the State Board of Education to local units of administration to support students living in poverty; to provide for definitions; to require the State Board of Education to develop rules and regulations; to provide for the calculation of grant amounts; to provide that a minimum required portion of grant funds must be used by local units of administration for direct program expenditures for the benefit of the students living in poverty; to provide a short title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Investing in Every Student Act." SECTION 2. Part 5 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to program weights and funding requirements under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended by revising Code Section 20-2-189, relating to migrant student grants for schools, as follows: "20-2-189. (a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) 'Foster care student' means a student enrolled in a public school in this state who is placed in a foster family home, child care institution, or another substitute care setting approved by the Department of Human Services. (2) 'Homeless student' means a student enrolled in a public school in this state who meets the definition of the term 'homeless children and youths' under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. Section 11301, et seq., in force and effect on January 1, 2025. (3) 'Migrant student' means 'migrant student' means a child who is a student enrolled in a public school in this state and who has, within 12 months prior to first becoming a student in such school, moved across state, or school district system, or school attendance zone lines with a migrant parent or guardian to enable the child, the child's parent or guardian, or a member of the child's immediate family to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in an agricultural or fishing activity. (4) 'Student living in poverty' means a student enrolled in a public school in this state who meets one or more of the following criteria: (A) Lives in a family unit directly certified to be receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits; (B) Lives in a family unit directly certified to be receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits; (C) Is a homeless student; (D) Is a foster care student; or (E) Is a migrant student. (b) The State Board of Education shall provide grants to qualified local units of administration for the purpose of supplementing services and instruction to currently enrolled migrant students living in poverty, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. Such grants shall be provided beyond those funds to which local units of administration otherwise are entitled by the provisions of this article and other statutes. The State Department Board of Education by regulation shall establish rules and regulations relating to the manner in which a local unit of administration must demonstrate that any of its schools meets the eligibility requirements of this subsection it is eligible to receive a grant under this Code section. (c) Grants under this Code section shall be subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. The Department of Education shall calculate the grant amount for a each local unit of administration to be used for a school thereof under this Code section shall be determined by multiplying the total appropriation for such grants by a fraction, the numerator of which is the average number of eligible migrant students enrolling in that school after the final FTE count as required in subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-160 but prior to the end of the same academic year and the denominator of which is the average total number of eligible migrant students enrolling after the final FTE count as required in subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-160 but prior to the end of the same academic year in all local units in the entire state number of students living in poverty enrolled in such local unit of administration as of the date of the initial enrollment count each year as set forth in Code Section 20-2-160 by an amount equal to 25 percent of the base amount calculated as set forth in Code Section 20-2-161. At least 90 percent of the grant funds received by a local unit under this Code section shall be used for direct program expenditures at the school for the benefit of the students living in poverty for which the grant is computed under this subsection Code section. Any portion of that 90 percent not so expended shall be returned to the State Department Board of Education." SECTION 3. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. House Bill 27 would replace Georgia's narrow migrant student grant program with a broader grant for students living in poverty, including those who are homeless, in foster care, or in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently gives local school districts grants tied specifically to migrant students under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189. House Bill 27, called the Investing in Every Student Act, rewrites that section to expand eligibility. It defines a new category, 'student living in poverty,' that includes students in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, homeless students, foster care students, and migrant students. The State Board of Education, rather than the Department of Education, would set rules for how districts prove they qualify. Grant amounts would be calculated by multiplying the number of qualifying students by 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount used elsewhere in Georgia's school funding formula. Districts would have to spend at least 90 percent of grant money directly on programs for these students, and any unspent portion above that threshold would go back to the State Board of Education. The grants remain subject to General Assembly appropriations. ### What it does - Replaces the existing migrant-only student grant program with a broader grant covering students living in poverty, defined to include those who are homeless, in foster care, migrant, or in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits. - Shifts rulemaking authority for grant eligibility from the State Department of Education to the State Board of Education. - Changes the grant calculation formula from one based on migrant student enrollment ratios to one based on 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount multiplied by the number of qualifying students. - Requires local school districts to spend at least 90 percent of grant funds directly on programs benefiting the qualifying students, returning any unspent amount above that share to the State Board of Education. - Keeps the grants subject to funding approval by the General Assembly each year. - Gives the law a short title, the 'Investing in Every Student Act.' ### Who it affects Local school districts (called local units of administration) that apply for and receive these grants, students who are homeless, in foster care, migrant, or living in families receiving SNAP or TANF benefits, and the State Board of Education and Department of Education, which set rules and calculate grant amounts. ### Why it matters Districts could receive funding for a much larger and more varied group of low-income students than the current migrant-only program covers, potentially increasing the number of students served. The change also shifts who writes the eligibility rules and how much money each district gets, affecting school budgets and program spending statewide. ### Key provisions - Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Investing in Every Student Act.' - Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-189 to define 'foster care student,' 'homeless student,' 'migrant student,' and the new umbrella category 'student living in poverty.' - Section 2 moves authority to set eligibility rules from the State Department of Education to the State Board of Education. - Section 2 changes the grant formula to 25 percent of the base per-student funding amount (as calculated under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161) multiplied by the number of qualifying students in each district. - Section 2 requires at least 90 percent of grant funds to go to direct program expenditures for the benefit of qualifying students, with unspent funds returned to the State Board of Education. - Section 2 keeps the grants subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-01-13) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-01-15) - Sponsors: Sandra Scott, Kim Schofield, Viola Davis - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69307 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb27.md?full=1