--- title: HB 335. Quality Basic Education Act; address mental health risks for student athletes collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb335 cite_as: HB 335, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb335 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb335.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb335/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70065 date: 2025-04-04 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hb334.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb336.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 235 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb335.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 335 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-06 last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted sponsors: - Omari Crawford - Brent Cox - Dewey McClain - Inga Willis - Demetrius Douglas text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB335/2025 upstream_id: 1960975 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - student athlete mental health - school sports - youth sports safety - education law - athletic associations --- # HB 335. Quality Basic Education Act; address mental health risks for student athletes ## Text 25 LC 49 2115 House Bill 335 By: Representatives Crawford of the 89th, Cox of the 28th, McClain of the 109th, Willis of the 55th, and Douglas of the 78th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, the1 "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to address mental health risks for student athletes; to2 provide for guidelines and other relevant materials to inform and educate public school and3 participating private school student athletes, their parents or guardians, school personnel, and4 coaches about mental health risks for student athletes and raising awareness of mental health5 resources available to student athletes; to provide for definitions; to require annual review6 by coaches; to provide for lim ited liability; to e ncourage addi tional implementation; to7 provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:9 SECTION 1.10 Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Geor gia Annotated, the "Quality11 Basic Education Act," is amended in Part 15, relating to miscellaneous provisions, by adding12 a new Code section to read as follows:13 "20-2-324.8.14 (a) As used in this Code section, the term:15 H. B. 335 - 1 - 25 LC 49 2115 (1) 'Athletic association' means any association of schools or any other similar16 organization which acts as an organizing, sanctioning, scheduling, or rule-making body17 for interscholastic athletic activities in which public schools and participating private18 schools in this state participate.19 (2) 'Healthcare provider' means a licensed physician, another licensed individual under20 the supervision of a licensed physician, licensed psychiatrist, licensed psychologist,21 licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor, clinical nurse specialist22 in psychiatric/mental health, or other licensed mental or behav ioral health clinician or23 specialist who has received training on screening school age children for mental health24 risks.25 (3) 'Interscholastic athletic activity' means interscholastic athletics and practices and26 scrimmages related to interscholastic athletics.27 (4) 'Participating private school' means a private school in this state whose students or28 teams compete against students or teams from a public school or local school system in29 this state.30 (5) 'Student athlete' means a public school or participating p rivate school student in31 grades six through 12 participating in or desiring to participa te in an interscholastic32 athletic activity.33 (b) Each athletic association shall, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral34 Health and Developmental Disabilities, develop and post on its public website guidelines35 and other relevant materials, including, but not limited to, approved videos or links thereto,36 to inform and educate student athletes, their parents or guardi ans, school personnel, and37 coaches about mental health risks for student athletes and rais ing awareness of mental38 health resources available to student athletes. In developing such guidelines and materials,39 an athletic association may utilize educational videos available at no cost to the state for40 the purpose of educating school personnel and coaches.41 H. B. 335 - 2 - 25 LC 49 2115 (c) Each public school and participating private school which includes one or more grades42 from grades six through 12 shall provide information to each st udent athlete's parent or43 guardian at least once each school year regarding mental health risks for student athletes44 and to raise awareness of mental health resources available to student athletes.45 (d)(1) Once each school year, each coach of an interscholastic athletic act ivity shall46 review the guidelines and other relevant materials, including, but not limited to, videos,47 approved by each athletic association of which the coach's school is a member pursuant48 to subsection (b) of this Code section.49 (2) A coach shall not be eligible to coach an interscholastic athletic activity until he or50 she completes the requirements contained in this subsection.51 (e) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to create any liability for, or create a52 cause of action against, a local board of education or other go verning body of a public53 school or participating private school, or an athletic association, or the officers, employees,54 or volunteers of any such entities for any act or omission rela ted to the removal or55 nonremoval of a student athlete participating in an interschola stic athletic activity in56 conjunction with an actual or perceived risk to the mental health of such student athlete or57 another student athlete; provided, however, that this subsection shall not include healthcare58 providers unless they are acting in a volunteer capacity.59 (f) The sponsors of youth athletic activities, as defined in subsection (a) of Code Section60 20-2-324.1, are encouraged to implement the provisions of this Code section."61 SECTION 2.62 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.63 H. B. 335 - 3 - ## 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 335 would require Georgia public and private school athletic programs to educate student athletes, parents, and coaches about mental health risks and available mental health resources. ### Plain-language summary Georgia currently has no specific law requiring schools or athletic associations to educate student athletes and coaches about mental health risks tied to sports. HB335 would add a new section to the Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. Title 20) addressing this gap for students in grades six through 12 at public schools and participating private schools. The bill would require athletic associations, working with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, to post guidelines and materials online about student athlete mental health risks and resources. Schools would have to inform parents or guardians at least once a year, and coaches would have to review the materials annually before they are allowed to coach. The bill also limits liability for schools, athletic associations, and their staff or volunteers for decisions about removing or not removing an athlete over mental health concerns, except for healthcare providers not acting as volunteers. No effective date is specified beyond standard enactment. ### What it does - Adds a new Code section requiring athletic associations to develop and post online guidelines and materials on student athlete mental health risks and resources, in consultation with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. - Requires public and participating private schools with grades six through 12 to inform each student athlete's parent or guardian at least once a year about mental health risks and resources. - Requires every coach of an interscholastic athletic activity to review the approved mental health guidelines and materials once each school year before being eligible to coach. - Limits liability for schools, athletic associations, and their officers, employees, and volunteers for decisions about removing or not removing a student athlete over mental health concerns, with an exception for healthcare providers not volunteering. - Encourages, but does not require, sponsors of youth athletic activities outside school settings to adopt the same guidelines. ### Who it affects Public school and participating private school student athletes in grades six through 12, their parents or guardians, coaches, school personnel, athletic associations, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and sponsors of youth athletic activities. ### Why it matters Coaches and schools would face a new annual training and notification requirement tied to student athlete mental health, and coaches who skip the review could become ineligible to coach. Families would receive yearly information on warning signs and resources, while schools and associations gain legal protection for related removal decisions. ### Key provisions - Defines key terms including 'athletic association,' 'healthcare provider,' 'interscholastic athletic activity,' 'participating private school,' and 'student athlete' (subsection (a)). - Subsection (b) requires each athletic association to post mental health guidelines and materials online, developed with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. - Subsection (c) requires schools to notify parents or guardians at least once a year about student athlete mental health risks and resources. - Subsection (d) requires coaches to complete an annual review of the guidelines and bars ineligible coaches from coaching until they do so. - Subsection (e) limits liability for schools, athletic associations, and their staff or volunteers regarding decisions on removing a student athlete for mental health reasons, except for non-volunteer healthcare providers. - Subsection (f) encourages youth athletic activity sponsors, as defined elsewhere in Code Section 20-2-324.1, to voluntarily adopt these provisions. - Section 2 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-02-06) - Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Omari Crawford, Brent Cox, Dewey McClain, Inga Willis, Demetrius Douglas - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70065 > The history, votes, and amendments (235 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb335.md?full=1