--- title: SB 560. County Board of Education of DeKalb County; provisions governing the use of third party search firms in selecting a superintendent; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb560 cite_as: SB 560, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb560 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb560.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb560/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73550 date: 2026-03-06 status: engrossed corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb559.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb561.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 444 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb560.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 560 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-03-03 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Emanuel Jones - Kim Jackson - Tonya Anderson - Randal Mangham - Sally Harrell - Elena Parent text_version: Engrossed has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB560/2025 upstream_id: 2123571 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - DeKalb County schools - school superintendent hiring - background checks - local government transparency - education governance --- # SB 560. County Board of Education of DeKalb County; provisions governing the use of third party search firms in selecting a superintendent; provide ## Text Senate Bill 560 By: Senators Jones of the 10th, Jackson of the 41st, Anderson of the 43rd, Mangham of the 55th, Harrell of the 40th and others AS PASSED SENATE A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to create and establish in DeKalb County, Georgia, districts from which the members of the County Board of Education of DeKalb County shall be elected, approved April 12, 1963 (Ga. L. 1963, p. 3424), as amended, so as to provide provisions governing the use of third party search firms in selecting a superintendent; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. An Act to create and establish in DeKalb County, Georgia, districts from which the members of the County Board of Education of DeKalb County shall be elected, approved April 12, 1963 (Ga. L. 1963, p. 3424), as amended, is amended by adding a new section to read as follows: "SECTION 3.3. In the event that the board of education enters into a contract to engage a third party to perform services related to the identification of one or more candidates for the position of superintendent, including, but not limited to, candidate searches, interviews, employment and personal background checks, risk assessments, and compensation benchmarking, such contract shall include a provision requiring that such third party shall perform employment and personal background checks and risk assessments with respect to any individual who, within 14 calendar days prior to the meeting of the board of education at which final action or vote is to be taken on the position of superintendent, the board of education has determined to be among the best qualified for the position, as provided for in O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(11), irrespective of whether such individual was identified or recommended as a candidate by such third party. The board of education shall not appoint any individual to the position of superintendent unless such individual has cooperated with and been the subject of employment and personal background checks and a risk assessment by such third party. The board of education shall not terminate such contract with such third party for the purpose of circumventing the requirements of this section. The board of education shall not terminate such contract with such third party except upon a public vote taken during a meeting of the board of education, for which such item shall be particularized on the meeting agenda and voted on separately." SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Senate bill would require the DeKalb County Board of Education to include background check and risk assessment rules in any contract with a search firm hired to help pick a school superintendent. ### Plain-language summary This bill amends the 1963 local law that set up DeKalb County's school board election districts, adding a new section about how the board hires help finding a school superintendent. If the board contracts with a third party firm to search for superintendent candidates, do background checks, or benchmark compensation, that contract must require the firm to run employment and personal background checks and a risk assessment on any person the board has identified as among the best qualified within 14 days before a final vote, even if that person was not found through the search firm. The board could not appoint anyone to the superintendent job unless that person has gone through this background check and risk assessment process. The board also could not cancel its contract with the search firm just to avoid these requirements, and any decision to end the contract would need a separate public vote listed specifically on the meeting agenda. ### What it does - Adds a new section to DeKalb County's 1963 school board law requiring search firm contracts to cover background checks and risk assessments. - Requires background checks and risk assessments on any superintendent finalist identified within 14 days of the board's final vote, even if the firm did not find that candidate. - Bars the board from appointing a superintendent who has not undergone these background checks and risk assessment. - Prohibits the board from ending its search firm contract as a way to dodge these requirements. - Requires any termination of the search firm contract to happen through a separate, agenda-listed public vote. ### Who it affects The DeKalb County Board of Education, third party firms it hires for superintendent searches, and candidates being considered for the DeKalb County school superintendent position are all directly affected by this bill's new contract and vetting requirements. ### Why it matters The bill would make it harder for the DeKalb County school board to select a superintendent finalist without a background check and risk assessment, and would require any move to drop a search firm to happen through a transparent, publicly recorded vote rather than quietly. ### Key provisions - Section 1 adds Section 3.3 to the 1963 DeKalb County school board law, applying whenever the board contracts a third party for superintendent search related services. - Requires the contract to mandate background checks and risk assessments on any candidate the board views as among the best qualified within 14 days before the final vote, referencing O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(11). - Bars appointment of any superintendent who has not cooperated with and undergone these background checks and a risk assessment. - Prohibits terminating the search firm contract to get around these requirements. - Requires that ending the contract happen only through a public vote, with the item specifically listed and voted on separately on the meeting agenda. - Section 2 repeals conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2026-03-03) - Last action: House Second Readers (2026-03-06) - Sponsors: Emanuel Jones, Kim Jackson, Tonya Anderson, Randal Mangham, Sally Harrell, Elena Parent - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73550 > The history, votes, and amendments (444 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb560.md?full=1