SB 513: "Every Day Counts Act"; enact

Georgia law already requires local school systems to identify chronically absent students and set up attendance review teams, but this bill rewrites those rules in detail. It creates a new category, "chronically unexcused student" (more than five unexcused absences in the first 50 days, or 10 percent of school days after that), and requires every local school system, not just ones with high absenteeism rates, to set up a multi-tiered system of supports: school-wide strategies for all students, targeted help for at-risk students, and individualized written attendance intervention plans for chronically unexcused students developed with input from the student and parent. Students who become chronically unexcused would be barred from extracurricular and interscholastic activities until they meet with an attendance review team to set up or update a plan. Schools would report noncompliance with a plan to the Department of Education, which would share that data with the Department of Driver Services, giving the state grounds to deny or flag a learner's permit or driver's license for minors who are not following their plan. The State Board of Education must issue model policies by July 1, 2027, and the whole Act takes effect that same date.

• Creates a new legal category of "chronically unexcused student" based on unexcused absence counts and requires every local school system, regardless of its absenteeism rate, to set up an attendance review team.
• Requires local school systems to build a three-tier system of attendance supports: school-wide strategies, targeted help for at-risk students, and individualized written intervention plans for chronically unexcused students.
• Makes chronically unexcused students ineligible for extracurricular and interscholastic activities until they and a parent meet with an attendance review team to create or update a plan.
• Requires schools to report noncompliance with an attendance intervention plan to the Department of Education, which shares that information with the Department of Driver Services.
• Bars the Department of Driver Services from issuing an instruction permit or driver's license to a minor who is subject to an attendance intervention plan and not currently complying with it.
• Directs the State Board of Education to approve model policies and guidance by July 1, 2027, and requires a notarized school enrollment certification form to be available online by that date.

Public school students under 18 (especially those with unexcused absences), their parents or guardians, local school systems and attendance review teams, school administrators and teachers, the Department of Education, the Department of Driver Services, and the Technical College System of Georgia, which tracks HSE diploma compliance data.

Students who rack up unexcused absences could lose the ability to play sports or join school clubs, and older teens could be denied a learner's permit or driver's license until they comply with an attendance plan. Schools statewide would face new tracking, reporting, and intervention duties starting July 1, 2027.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Every Day Counts Act.'
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-320 to let the Department of Education share noncompliance with attendance intervention plans, not just suspension data, with the Department of Driver Services.
• Section 3 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690.3, defining 'chronically unexcused student,' requiring every local school system to form an attendance review team, and mandating written, signed attendance intervention plans and a three-tier support framework.
• Section 3 also makes chronically unexcused students ineligible for extracurricular and interscholastic activities until a plan meeting occurs, and requires reporting noncompliance to the Department of Education.
• Section 3 exempts students enrolled in a completion special school and sets a July 1, 2027 deadline for State Board model policies.
• Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-697 to allow attendance records to be used to verify compliance with intervention plans for driver's license purposes.
• Section 5 amends O.C.G.A. § 40-5-22 so the Department of Driver Services will not issue a permit or license to a minor who is noncompliant with an attendance intervention plan, and requires a notarized enrollment certification form online by July 1, 2027.
• Section 6 sets the Act's effective date as July 1, 2027.

1. 2026-04-02House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2026-04-02House Reconsidered (House)
3. 2026-04-02House Third Reading Lost (House)
4. 2026-04-02House Third Readers (House)
5. 2026-03-25House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
6. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)
7. 2026-03-03House First Readers (House)
8. 2026-02-26Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)

• Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)Primary sponsor
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Scott Hilton (R, HD-048)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 26, 2026

   46 yea, 1 nay (3 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #596

2. FailedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   80 yea, 90 nay (2 not voting, 4 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #843

3. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2026

   96 yea, 75 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Reconsider: House Vote #844

• school attendance
• student discipline
• driver's licenses for teens
• extracurricular eligibility
• education policy