--- title: SB 236. "Quality Basic Education Act,"; certain students whose parents or guardians are on active duty are eligible for enrollment in the public school of the attendance zone in which they intend to reside; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb236 cite_as: SB 236, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb236 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb236.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb236/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70660 date: 2025-04-04 status: engrossed 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/sb235.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb237.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 759 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb236.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 236 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-06 last_action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted sponsors: - Kenya Wicks - Chuck Payne - Nikki Merritt - Russ Goodman - Matt Brass - Jason Esteves - Tonya Anderson - Michael Rhett - Donzella James - Ed Harbison - Derek Mallow - Gail Davenport - Freddie Sims - David Clark text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB236/2025 upstream_id: 1980051 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - military families - school enrollment - Quality Basic Education Act - student residency rules --- # SB 236. "Quality Basic Education Act,"; certain students whose parents or guardians are on active duty are eligible for enrollment in the public school of the attendance zone in which they intend to reside; provide ## Text 25 LC 49 2369S The House Committee on Education offers the following substitute to SB 236: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Code Section 20-2-150 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to1 eligibility for enrollment under the "Quality Basic Education A ct," so as to provide that 2 certain students whose parents or guardians are on active duty in the United States armed3 forces are eligible for enrollment in the public school of the attendance zone in which they4 intend to reside regardless of whether they have entered into a lease, purchased a house, or5 otherwise secured housing within such attendance zone, subject to limitations; to provide for6 related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:8 SECTION 1.9 Code Section 20-2-150 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to eligibility for10 enrollment under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended by revising subsection (e)11 as follows:12 "(e) A student whose parent or guardian is on active duty in the United States armed forces13 and has received official military orders to transfer into or within this state shall be eligible14 for enrollment, in the same manner and time as for students residing within the local school15 system, in the public school of the attendance zone in which he or she will be residing16 S. B. 236 (SUB) - 1 - 25 LC 49 2369S intends to reside or in a public school authorized pursuant to Code Section 20-2-295, prior17 to physically establishing residency within the local school system regardless of whether18 such student's parent or guardian has entered into a lease, pur chased a residence, or19 otherwise secured housing within such attendance zone, upon presentation of a copy of the20 official military orders to the local school system.; provided, however, that such enrollment21 shall be provisional and subject to written verification provided to the school principal or22 his or her designee within 90 days of the first day of such provisional enrollment that such23 student's parent or guardian has established residency or has m ade sufficient good faith24 efforts to establish residency in such attendance zone. In the event that such student does25 not subsequently physically reside in the attendance zone in which he or she intended to26 reside or provide verification of sufficient good faith efforts to establish such residency,27 such student's parent or guardian shall enroll such student in the public school of the28 attendance zone in which he or she actually physically resides and shall provide proof of29 such physical residency to such local school system at the conc lusion of the 90 day30 provisional enrollment period. A high school student who is a junior or senior shall be31 permitted to remain enrolled in his or her current school placement until graduation despite32 any changes in physical residency."33 SECTION 2.34 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.35 S. B. 236 (SUB) - 2 - ## 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. A Georgia Senate bill would let children of active-duty military parents enroll in the public school of the attendance zone they intend to live in, even before the family has a lease or house lined up, subject to a 90-day verification period. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, students whose parents are transferring into or within the state under military orders can enroll in a school before physically moving in. This bill amends that part of the Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-150) to spell out how that enrollment works when the family has not yet signed a lease, bought a house, or otherwise secured housing in the attendance zone they intend to live in. The enrollment would be provisional. Within 90 days of the first day of enrollment, the family must give the school principal or a designee written proof that they have established residency in that attendance zone, or show they have made good faith efforts to do so. If they cannot show that, the student must instead enroll in the school for the zone where the family actually lives, with proof provided at the end of the 90 days. Juniors and seniors in high school would be allowed to stay in their current school through graduation even if the family's residency changes. The bill repeals conflicting laws. ### What it does - Allows a student whose parent or guardian is on active duty and has official transfer orders to enroll in the school for the attendance zone they intend to live in, before securing housing there. - Makes that enrollment provisional, requiring written proof of established residency or good faith efforts within 90 days of the first day of enrollment. - Requires the student to transfer to the school for their actual attendance zone if residency in the intended zone is not verified within the 90-day window. - Lets high school juniors and seniors keep their current school placement through graduation even if their family's physical residency changes. - Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with these provisions. ### Who it affects Military families with children who are relocating into or within Georgia under official transfer orders, local school systems and principals who must process provisional enrollments and verify residency, and high school juniors and seniors whose school placement could otherwise be disrupted by a move. ### Why it matters Military families often face tight timelines when relocating and may not have secured housing before a school year starts. This bill lets their children start school in the intended attendance zone right away, while giving schools a 90-day process to confirm the family actually settles there. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-150(e) to let students of active-duty military parents with transfer orders enroll in their intended attendance zone school without yet having secured housing there. - Enrollment is provisional and requires written verification to the school principal or designee within 90 days of the first day of enrollment. - If residency or good-faith efforts cannot be verified, the student's parent or guardian must enroll the student in the school for the zone where the family actually resides, with proof due at the end of the 90-day period. - High school juniors and seniors are guaranteed the right to remain in their current school placement through graduation despite later changes in physical residency. - Section 2 repeals all laws in conflict with the Act. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2025-03-06) - Last action: House Withdrawn, Recommitted (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Kenya Wicks, Chuck Payne, Nikki Merritt, Russ Goodman, Matt Brass, Jason Esteves, Tonya Anderson, Michael Rhett, Donzella James, Ed Harbison, Derek Mallow, Gail Davenport, Freddie Sims, David Clark - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70660 > The history, votes, and amendments (759 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb236.md?full=1