---
title: SB 247. Sick, Personal, and Maternity Leave for Teachers; the number of accumulated sick leave days teachers may take for personal or professional reasons; increase
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb247
cite_as: SB 247, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb247
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb247.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb247/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70732
date: 2025-02-26
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb247.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 247
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-24
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Shawn Still
- Steve Gooch
- John Kennedy
- Billy Hickman
- Greg Dolezal
- Clint Dixon
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB247/2025
upstream_id: 1982065
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- teacher sick leave
- school personnel benefits
- education law
- personal leave policy
---
# SB 247. Sick, Personal, and Maternity Leave for Teachers; the number of accumulated sick leave days teachers may take for personal or professional reasons; increase
## Text
Senate Bill 247
By: Senators Still of the 48th, Gooch of the 51st, Kennedy of the 18th, Hickman of the 4th,
Dolezal of the 27th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 4 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to sick, personal, and maternity leave for teachers and other school
personnel, so as to increase from three to five the number of accumulated sick leave days
teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional
reasons; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 4 of Article 17 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to sick, personal, and maternity leave for teachers and other school personnel, is
amended by revising Code Section 20-2-851, relating to use of accumulated sick leave for
personal or professional reasons, as follows:
"20-2-851.
During any school year, personnel may utilize up to a maximum of three five days of any
accumulated sick leave for the purpose of absenting themselves from their duties for
personal or professional reasons if prior approval of their absence is given by the local
school superintendent or his or her authorized representative; provided, however, that the
absence is not in conflict with a local board of education policy concerning school days on
which the presence of the personnel requesting absence is essential for effective school
operation. No grant of approval for an absence permitted under this Code section shall be
conditioned upon disclosure of the specific purpose for which such absence is sought, nor
shall any such grant of approval be withheld or denied because of the failure or refusal of
personnel to disclose the specific purpose for which such an absence is sought; provided,
however, that personnel may be requested to state whether the absence is sought under the
category of 'personal' or 'professional' absence."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## 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 teachers and other school personnel use up to five accumulated sick days per school year for personal or professional reasons, up from the current three.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-851), teachers and other school personnel can use up to three days of their accumulated sick leave each school year for personal or professional reasons, as long as their local school superintendent or a representative approves the absence in advance. This bill raises that limit to five days per school year.
The bill keeps the existing rules intact: the absence still cannot conflict with a local school board policy about days when the employee's presence is essential, and approval cannot be conditioned on the employee revealing the specific reason for the absence. Employees can still be asked to say only whether the absence is 'personal' or 'professional.' The bill does not change any other part of teacher sick leave law and includes a standard repeal of conflicting laws.
### What it does
- Raises from three to five the number of accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may use each school year for personal or professional reasons.
- Keeps the requirement that the local school superintendent or an authorized representative must approve the absence in advance.
- Preserves the rule that approval cannot be withheld because an employee refuses to disclose the specific reason for the absence.
- Keeps the existing limit that the absence cannot conflict with local school board policy on days when the employee's presence is essential for school operations.
### Who it affects
Public school teachers and other school personnel across Georgia who use accumulated sick leave, along with local school superintendents and school boards, who oversee approval of these personal or professional absences under existing policy.
### Why it matters
Teachers and school staff would gain two extra paid days a year they can use for personal matters like family obligations or professional activities without having to explain the specific reason, giving them more flexibility while still requiring supervisor approval.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-851 to change the maximum number of personal or professional sick leave days from three to five per school year.
- Section 1 retains the requirement of prior approval from the local school superintendent or his or her authorized representative.
- Section 1 keeps the restriction that the absence cannot conflict with local board of education policy on essential school days.
- Section 1 preserves the protection that approval cannot be denied for refusing to state the specific purpose of the absence, though employees may be asked whether it is 'personal' or 'professional.'
- Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws in conflict with the Act.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-24)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2025-02-26)
- Sponsors: Shawn Still, Steve Gooch, John Kennedy, Billy Hickman, Greg Dolezal, Clint Dixon
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70732
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb247.md?full=1