HB 550: Education; promise scholarship accounts; require participating schools to prepare school safety plans that meet certain requirements

Georgia's Promise Scholarship Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-23) lets families use state education savings accounts to pay for private school tuition and related expenses at approved 'participating schools.' Currently, the law does not require those participating schools to have a formal school safety plan. This bill adds a new requirement: each participating school must prepare a school safety plan that meets the same requirements already set out for public schools in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1185. The bill does not create new safety plan standards itself; it simply extends the existing public school safety plan rules to private schools that take Promise Scholarship money. The bill repeals any conflicting laws and does not state a specific effective date beyond the standard process for bills becoming law.

• Adds a new subsection to O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-23 requiring participating schools in the Promise Scholarship program to prepare a school safety plan.
• Ties the new requirement to the existing school safety plan standards already required of public schools under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1185.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with this new safety plan requirement.

Private schools that participate in Georgia's Promise Scholarship education savings account program, the families who use those scholarship accounts, and the state education savings authority that oversees the program and its participating schools.

Families using Promise Scholarship funds at private schools would gain assurance that those schools follow the same safety planning standards as public schools, potentially affecting how participating private schools prepare for emergencies like intruders or natural disasters.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2B-23 by adding subsection (h), requiring each participating school to prepare a school safety plan.
• The new subsection cross-references O.C.G.A. § 20-2-1185, meaning participating schools must meet the same safety plan requirements already imposed on public schools.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision with no independent substantive effect.

1. 2025-02-24House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-21House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-20House Hopper (House)

• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)Primary sponsor
• Steven Sainz (R, HD-180)
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)
• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
• Patty Stinson (D, HD-150)

• school safety
• Promise Scholarship
• private school vouchers
• education savings accounts