HB 634: Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act; expedited completion of a student's first Individualized Education Program; revise provisions

Georgia's Special Needs Scholarship Act lets eligible students with disabilities use state funds toward private school tuition, with amounts based on services listed in a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP). This bill addresses a gap for students whose first IEP was fast-tracked (expedited) but wasn't finished by the time the state counted enrollment. It sets a process to calculate an initial scholarship amount once that IEP takes effect, then revise it at the next enrollment count. The bill also changes how scholarship payments move: instead of mailing paper checks for parents to endorse to schools, the Department of Education would electronically deposit payments directly into a school's account when possible, only mailing a check if electronic deposit fails. It requires participating schools to complete a compliance form and certify its accuracy, sets a July 15 deadline each year for the department to tell parents their child's actual scholarship amount, expands what parents can dispute about reported program weights, and adds new demographic categories and medical/behavioral accommodation data to the program's required annual report to the General Assembly.

• Creates a special calculation process for scholarship amounts when a student's first IEP was expedited but not finished by the enrollment count, basing the initial amount on the IEP once it takes effect and revising it later.
• Requires the Department of Education to electronically deposit scholarship payments into a participating school's account, only mailing a paper check if electronic deposit is not possible.
• Requires the department to develop and use a compliance form that participating schools must complete and certify as accurate.
• Sets a yearly deadline of no later than July 15 for the department to tell parents of scholarship students their child's actual scholarship amount.
• Expands the reasons a parent can dispute reported program weights to include services in a student's IEP that were not recorded in the enrollment count.
• Adds new demographic breakdowns (age, grade, gender, race, ethnicity, free or reduced meal eligibility) and information on schools' medical or behavioral accommodations to the annual report sent to the General Assembly.

Families of students with disabilities who use or apply for Georgia's Special Needs Scholarship, especially those with newly created IEPs; private schools that participate in the scholarship program and receive payments; and the Georgia Department of Education and Office of Student Achievement, which administer payments and reporting.

Families whose child's first IEP is still being finalized would get a clearer path to a scholarship amount instead of uncertainty. Schools would receive payments faster through electronic deposit rather than waiting on mailed checks, and parents would get firmer deadlines and broader grounds to challenge amounts they believe are wrong.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2116(a) to set a two-step scholarship calculation for students whose first IEP was expedited under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2114 but not yet in effect at the enrollment count.
• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2116(f) to require electronic deposit of scholarship payments into a participating school's account, with mailed warrants as a fallback.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2117(a)-(b) to require a compliance form for participating schools, an annual parent satisfaction survey, and posting of basic unit cost estimates on the department's public website.
• Section 2 sets a deadline of no later than July 15 each year for the department to give parents actual scholarship amounts, and lets parents dispute reported program weights, including unrecorded IEP services, within 30 days.
• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2118 to require the annual report to the General Assembly to include demographic breakdowns and data on schools' medical or behavioral accommodations, and to be posted on the Office of Student Achievement's public website.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-03-23Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2026-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2026-02-25House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-02-25House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-20House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-02-28House Second Readers (House)

• Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)Primary sponsor
• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)
• Brent Cox (R, HD-028)
• Ed Setzler (R, SD-037)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 25, 2026

   168 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #555

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

• special needs scholarship
• school vouchers
• special education
• Georgia education funding
• Individualized Education Programs