SB 412: Education; accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons; increase

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.

• 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.'

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.

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.

• 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.

1. 2026-01-29Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
2. 2026-01-28Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
3. 2026-01-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
4. 2026-01-16Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)
• Ed Setzler (R, SD-037)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)

• teacher sick leave
• school personnel benefits
• education law
• personal leave policy