Georgia CommonsSenate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 412: Education; accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons; increase
Last action January 29, 2026 · Senate Read Second Time
A Georgia Senate bill would let teachers and other school personnel use up to five accumulated sick leave days per year for personal or professional reasons, up from three.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
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 the local school superintendent or a designated representative approves the absence in advance. This bill would raise that cap from three days to five days per school year. The approval process stays the same: the absence still cannot conflict with a local school board policy about days when the employee's presence is essential, and school officials still cannot require employees to disclose the specific reason for the absence, though employees can be asked to say whether it falls under the 'personal' or 'professional' category. The bill also updates the law's wording to say 'his or her' instead of just 'his.' It repeals any conflicting laws and does not specify a separate effective date beyond standard enactment.
What the bill does
- Raises the number of accumulated sick leave days that teachers and school personnel may use for personal or professional reasons each school year from three to five.
- Keeps the existing requirement that the local school superintendent or an authorized representative approve the absence in advance.
- Preserves the rule barring absences on days a local school board policy deems essential for the employee's presence.
- Retains the protection that employees cannot be forced to disclose the specific reason for the absence, though they may be asked to categorize it as 'personal' or 'professional.'
Who it affects
Public school teachers and other school personnel across Georgia who use accumulated sick leave for personal or professional absences, along with local school superintendents and local boards of education, who oversee approval of these absences.
Why it matters
Teachers and school staff would get two more days each year of flexible, unspecified sick leave for personal matters, while still needing prior approval and still being barred from taking the days when local policy says their presence is essential.
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 keeps the requirement that absences get prior approval from the local school superintendent or an authorized representative.
- Section 1 keeps the rule that approval cannot be conditioned on disclosing the specific reason for the absence, though staff may be asked whether it is 'personal' or 'professional.'
- Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the bill.
From the bill
“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”
Discussed in meetings (4)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Education and Youth Committee, January 27, 2026
From 0:21:13 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the bill would increase from three to five the accumulated sick-leave days school personnel may use annually for personal or professional reasons, subject to approval. The sponsor emphasized that it adds no leave and described it as a no-cost recommendation from teacher-workforce planning. The sponsor shared a family example of a teacher taking unpaid time for a memorial service and reported support from nine of 14 superintendents surveyed in the First District RESA. A committee member asked who could approve leave and expressed concern about conflicting authority. The sponsor said a superintendent’s designated representative could include a principal. A Professional Association of Georgia Educators witness said principals usually approve requests and may deny them during periods such as testing. That witness said greater flexibility would support morale and let educators honestly identify personal absences. A Georgia School Boards Association witness supported the bill as a recruitment and retention measure. A Department of Education witness said the change had been a department priority for several years and would recognize teachers’ professional and family needs. The committee approved the bill unanimously.
Status timeline
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Billy Hickman (R, SD-4)
- Chuck Payne (R, SD-54)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-39)
- RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-38)
- Shawn Still (R, SD-48)
- Ed Harbison (D, SD-15)
- Bo Hatchett (R, SD-50)
- Timothy Bearden (R, SD-30)
- Clint Dixon (R, SD-45)
- Greg Dolezal (R, SD-27)
- Ed Setzler (R, SD-37)
- Donzella James (D, SD-28)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-44)
- Freddie Powell Sims (D, SD-12)
- Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
Topics
- teacher sick leave
- school personnel benefits
- education law
- personal leave policy