HB 907: Completion Special Schools Act; certain local school systems to either be a party to a collaborative operating agreement with a completion special school or provide certain education programs and services; require

Completion special schools are public alternative high schools in Georgia that serve students in grades nine through 12 who are at risk of dropping out, offering credit recovery, dropout prevention, and flexible class scheduling. Under current law, a student's home school district had to sign a collaborative operating agreement with a completion special school before that district's students could attend part-time. HB 907 requires every local school system located within a completion special school's attendance zone to either join such an agreement or provide comparable dropout prevention, credit recovery, and flexible scheduling programs on its own. It also requires completion special schools to send program information to home districts twice a year, requires districts to post and share that information with students and parents, allows parents to register their child directly with a completion special school, and requires districts to share contact information for students who stop attending or withdraw, with some exceptions. The changes to attendance zone rules for schools already operating outside their assigned zone are also updated, including a transition period for affected students. The law takes effect once the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.

• Requires local school systems located in a completion special school's attendance zone to either sign a collaborative operating agreement with it or offer their own dropout prevention, credit recovery, and flexible scheduling programs.
• Requires completion special schools to send resident school systems updated program and registration information twice a year, by June 1 and December 1.
• Requires resident school systems to post that information at each high school within seven days and email it to all students in grades nine through 12 and their parents or guardians.
• Allows parents or guardians to register their child directly with a completion special school for part-time classes, with the resident district required to help enroll the student if not already enrolled.
• Requires local school systems to give completion special schools the name, address, and phone number of students in grades nine through 12 who miss ten consecutive school days or withdraw, within ten school days, subject to listed exceptions.
• Updates the rules for how long a completion special school can keep operating programs outside its assigned attendance zone and requires a transition period for students when a new school is later assigned to that zone.

Local school systems and their high schools, students in grades nine through 12 who are at risk of dropping out or need credit recovery, parents and guardians of those students, completion special schools and their governing boards, and the state board of education, which oversees waivers and attendance zone rules.

Districts near a completion special school would no longer be able to avoid offering an alternative pathway; they must either partner with the school or build similar programs themselves. Families would get clearer, more frequent information about enrollment options, and parents could sign their child up directly rather than going through the district first.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2096.3 to add twice-yearly information sharing deadlines (June 1 and December 1), a seven-day posting and notification requirement for districts, and direct parent registration for program students.
• Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2096.7 so an existing completion special school can keep operating programs outside its assigned attendance zone until a new school is assigned there, with a required transition period for students instead of a fixed 2028 cutoff.
• Section 3 adds new Code Section 20-2-2096.9 requiring local school systems within a completion special school's zone to either join a collaborative operating agreement or provide their own dropout prevention, credit recovery, and flexible scheduling programs.
• Section 3 also requires districts to report contact information for students absent ten consecutive days or who withdraw, within ten school days, unless the student already graduated or transferred to another district within the last 45 school days.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without signature.

1. 2026-05-05Effective Date 2026-05-05
2. 2026-05-05Act 392
3. 2026-05-05House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2026-03-20Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2026-03-20Senate Third Read (Senate)
7. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
8. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)

• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)Primary sponsor
• Jon Burns (R, HD-159)
• Matt Dubnik (R, HD-029)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 11, 2026

   168 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #498

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 20, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #771

• alternative schools
• dropout prevention
• high school credit recovery
• public school enrollment
• school district agreements