SB 557: Education; various provisions regarding student discipline and working conditions of teachers and other school personnel; revise

Georgia law lets local school systems and charter schools apply for waivers from certain state education rules in exchange for more flexibility. This bill adds student discipline requirements (Part 2 of Article 16 of Title 20) and the complaint policy for teachers and other school personnel (Part 11 of Article 17) to the list of rules that can never be waived, applying that protection to strategic waiver contracts, general Quality Basic Education Act waivers, charter schools, and completion special schools. The bill also creates a new Code section requiring local boards of education and public school governing bodies to adopt, by August 1, 2026, policies letting a school employee who is the victim of physical violence by a student or that student's parent or guardian transfer to a similar position in another school in the same district, if one is open, without facing retaliation. Separately, it amends the state's school climate star rating system so that ratings can no longer be based on student discipline data. The changes take effect July 1, 2026, starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

• Adds student discipline rules and the teacher/staff complaint policy to the list of state education requirements that local systems, charter schools, and completion special schools can never waive.
• Creates a new Code Section 20-2-222 requiring local boards and school governing bodies to adopt, by August 1, 2026, a transfer policy for employees who are victims of physical violence by a student or a student's parent or guardian.
• Requires that transfer policy to place the employee in a substantially similar position at another public school in the same district, if one is available.
• Bars retaliation or other adverse action against an employee who transfers or requests a transfer under the new policy.
• Prohibits the state's school climate star rating system from using student discipline data as a factor.
• Sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

Public school teachers and other school personnel, local boards of education and charter school governing bodies, students and families involved in discipline or complaint processes, and the state's education accountability office that calculates school climate star ratings.

School employees who are attacked by a student or a parent would get a guaranteed path to request a transfer without fear of retaliation, and local systems would lose the ability to bypass certain discipline and complaint rules through waivers. Removing discipline data from climate ratings changes how the public sees a school's climate score.

• Section 1-1 through 1-4 add student discipline requirements (Part 2, Article 16) and the employee complaint policy (Part 11, Article 17) to the non-waivable list across four separate waiver statutes covering local systems, general QBE waivers, charter schools, and completion special schools.
• Section 1-3 also adds new paragraphs (16) and (17) to the charter school statute (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-2065) explicitly subjecting charter schools to the student discipline and complaint policy requirements.
• Section 2-1 creates new O.C.G.A. § 20-2-222, requiring transfer policies for employees who are victims of physical violence by a student or a parent/guardian, due by August 1, 2026, with a non-retaliation protection.
• Section 3-1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-14-33 to bar the use of student discipline data in calculating school climate star ratings.
• Section 4-1 sets the effective date of July 1, 2026, applying to the 2026-2027 school year and beyond.

1. 2026-02-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-24Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)

• student discipline
• teacher safety
• school climate ratings
• charter schools
• education waivers