SB 332: County Board of Education of DeKalb County; board members shall only be elected by electors of the DeKalb County school district; provide

This bill amends a 1963 local law that set up election districts for the DeKalb County Board of Education, which has been changed several times since, including in 1984 and 2021. Currently the law describes who elects board members in general terms tied to the county's boundaries and past annexations. The bill rewrites that language so that future board members are elected specifically by electors who live within the boundaries of the DeKalb County school district, rather than any broader area. The bill also adds a new exception to the section governing how school district boundaries shift when land is annexed into a city. Under the new provision, an annexation of a single residential parcel of one acre or less, done through a local Act of the General Assembly, will not trigger the usual school district boundary change process. No more than four such small annexations can use this exception in a single calendar year. Current board members finish their existing terms unaffected.

• Rewrites the law so future DeKalb County school board members are elected only by voters living inside the DeKalb County school district's boundaries.
• Leaves currently serving board members' terms untouched, letting them finish out the terms they were already elected to.
• Adds a new exception exempting small single-parcel residential annexations (one acre or less) done by local legislative Act from the usual school district boundary change rules.
• Caps the number of annexations that can use this exemption at four per calendar year.
• Repeals any other state laws that conflict with these changes.

DeKalb County voters and residents within the school district's boundaries, current and future DeKalb County Board of Education members and candidates, and property owners whose land is annexed into a city through small, single-parcel local annexation Acts.

The change clarifies exactly whose votes count in DeKalb County school board elections, tying eligibility to the school district rather than a broader or differently defined area. The annexation exception could let a small number of tiny land transfers each year bypass the usual process for adjusting school district lines.

• Section 1 revises Section 3(a) of the 1963 Act to specify that successors to current board members are elected by electors residing within the DeKalb County school district's boundaries.
• Section 1 preserves the terms of board members already serving when the amendment takes effect.
• Section 2 adds new subsection (g) to Section 3.2, exempting annexations of a single residential parcel of one acre or less enacted by local Act of the General Assembly from the section's normal boundary-change rules.
• Section 2 limits this exemption to no more than four qualifying annexations per calendar year.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2025-05-13Effective Date
2. 2025-05-13Act 249
3. 2025-05-13Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-04-04House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-04-04House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-04-04House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-03-28House Second Readers (House)

• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-10)Primary sponsor
• Donzella James (D, SD-28)
• Long Tran (D, HD-80)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 25, 2025

   52 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 0 excused)

   LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR: Senate Vote #277

2. PassedHouse voteApril 4, 2025

   112 yea, 59 nay (1 not voting, 8 excused)

   Local Calendar: House Vote #434

• DeKalb County schools
• school board elections
• local government law
• annexation