HB 917: Education; open enrollment processes for students to transfer between local school systems and between schools within local school systems; provide

Currently, Georgia law lets students transfer between school districts and between schools within a district, but the rules are patchy and largely left to local discretion. HB 917 rewrites those rules to create a standard statewide 'open enrollment' process. Local school systems must publish available seats by grade level each month, accept transfer applications year-round, and use a lottery when more students apply than there is room. Districts cannot deny transfers based on a student's address, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic status. Districts must decide on applications within 45 days and give written reasons for denials, which parents can appeal to the State Board of Education. Except for virtual-only instruction, districts generally cannot charge tuition for interdistrict transfers. The bill also tweaks the state's equalization grant formula (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165) so that transfers cannot push a district's per-student funding below $10,000. The changes would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Requires every local school system to adopt an open enrollment policy letting students apply to transfer to another district or another school within their own district.
• Bans denying transfer requests based on a student's address, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic status.
• Requires districts to post monthly vacancy counts by grade level and use a lottery when more students apply than there is space.
• Sets a 45 day deadline for districts to decide on transfer applications and creates an appeal process to the State Board of Education for denials.
• Generally prohibits charging tuition for interdistrict transfers, except districts may charge up to two-thirds of local per-student revenue for virtual-only instruction.
• Changes the equalization grant formula (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165) so a district's per-student funding cannot drop below $10,000 because of student transfers.

Parents and students seeking to transfer schools or districts, local school boards and superintendents who must write and administer new enrollment policies, the State Board of Education which will hear transfer appeals, and the Department of Education, which must publish transfer data annually.

Families who want to move their child to a different public school, whether across district lines or within their home district, would gain a clearer, faster, and more uniform process with a formal right to appeal a denial. Districts would face new administrative duties, funding adjustments, and limits on charging tuition.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-165 so equalization grants adjust for transferred students while guaranteeing a district's per-student state and local revenue does not fall below $10,000.
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-293 to require every local school system to adopt an open enrollment policy, post monthly vacancy data, use lotteries for oversubscribed schools, and follow a 45 day decision and appeal timeline.
• Section 2 bars tuition for interdistrict transfers except for virtual-only instruction, capped at two-thirds of local per-student revenue.
• Section 2 requires annual reporting of transfer numbers, approvals, and denials to the State School Superintendent for publication online.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2131 to apply the same lottery, 45 day timeline, nondiscrimination, and annual reporting rules to transfers between schools within the same district.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

1. 2026-01-12House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-04-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-04-02House Hopper (House)

• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)Primary sponsor
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)

• school choice
• open enrollment
• school transfers
• public education funding
• student enrollment policy