--- title: SB 63. "Quality Basic Education Act"; local school systems offer certain exams to home study students; require collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb63 cite_as: SB 63, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69699 date: 2025-05-14 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/sb62.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb64.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1303 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 63 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-14 last_action: Effective Date 2025-07-01 sponsors: - Clint Dixon - Steve Gooch - Randy Robertson - Marty Harbin - Billy Hickman - Bo Hatchett - Sam Watson - Greg Dolezal - Jason Anavitarte - Kim Jackson - Max Burns - Ricky Williams - Ed Setzler - Lee Anderson - Russ Goodman - Carmen Rice text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB63/2025 upstream_id: 1947637 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - homeschooling - standardized testing - public schools - education policy - SAT and ACT access --- # SB 63. "Quality Basic Education Act"; local school systems offer certain exams to home study students; require ## Text 25 LC 49 2368S Senate Bill 63 By: Senators Dixon of the 45th, Gooch of the 51st, Robertson of the 29th, Harbin of the 16th, Hickman of the 4th and others AS PASSED A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Part 15 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the O fficial Code of Georgia1 Annotated, relating to miscellaneous provisions under the "Qual ity Basic Education Act,"2 so as to require that local school systems offer certain exams to home study students; to3 provide for notice requirements; to prohibit additional qualifications; to provide a definition;4 to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Part 15 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official C ode of Georgia Annotated,8 relating to miscellaneous provisions under the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended9 by adding a new Code section to read as follows:10 "20-2-324.8.11 (a) As used in this Code section, the term 'home study student' means a student in grades12 six through 12 who is in a home study program that meets the re quirements of13 subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-690.14 S. B. 63 - 1 - 25 LC 49 2368S (b) Each local school system that offers the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, or15 Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or an advanced placement exam to students16 enrolled in such local school system shall:17 (1) Make each such test or exam available to any home study student who resides in the18 local school system; and19 (2) Post on its public w ebsite notice of the date that each su ch test or exam will be20 administered. Such notice shall include registration dates and procedures and shall state21 that such test or exam is available for home study students who reside in the local school22 system.23 (c) No local school system that offers the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, or Armed24 Services Vocational Aptitude Battery or an advanced placement exam to students enrolled25 in such local school system shall require home study students to pay a fee not required of26 students enrolled in such local school system or impose any requirement that conflicts with27 or is in addition to the requirements of subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-690."28 SECTION 2.29 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.30 S. B. 63 - 2 - ## 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. Georgia Senate Bill 63 would require local school systems that offer tests like the SAT or ACT to their students to also make those tests available to home study students living in the district. ### Plain-language summary Under current Georgia law, home study (homeschool) students in grades 6 through 12 do not always have guaranteed access to standardized tests such as the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or advanced placement exams through their local school system, even when that system offers those tests to its own enrolled students. This bill adds a new section to Georgia's Quality Basic Education Act (O.C.G.A. Title 20). If a local school system offers any of these tests to its enrolled students, it must also make the same test available to home study students who live in that district. The school system must post the test date, registration dates, and procedures on its public website, and note that home study students may take the test. School systems cannot charge home study students a fee that enrolled students do not pay, or add any requirement beyond what is already required for a home study program under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690. ### What it does - Requires local school systems that offer the PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, PreACT, ACT, Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or an advanced placement exam to also make that test available to qualifying home study students in the district. - Requires school systems to post test dates, registration dates, and procedures on their public website, including a statement that home study students can take the test. - Bans school systems from charging home study students a fee that enrolled students do not have to pay. - Bans school systems from imposing any extra requirement on home study students beyond what Georgia's home study law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c)) already requires. - Defines 'home study student' as a student in grades six through 12 in a home study program that meets the requirements of O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c). ### Who it affects Home study (homeschool) students in grades 6 through 12 and their families, along with local school systems across Georgia that offer standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, or advanced placement exams to their enrolled students. ### Why it matters Home study students who want to take college entrance or placement exams through their local public school system would gain a guaranteed right to do so, with the same fees and no extra hoops, and clearer public information about test dates and how to register. ### Key provisions - Adds new Code Section 20-2-324.8 to Part 15 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. - Subsection (a) defines 'home study student' as a grades 6-12 student in a home study program meeting O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c). - Subsection (b) requires local school systems offering listed tests to enrolled students to also offer them to resident home study students and to post notice, registration dates, and procedures on the system's website. - Subsection (c) bars school systems from charging home study students fees not charged to enrolled students or adding requirements beyond O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690(c). - Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-14) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-07-01 (2025-05-14) - Sponsors: Clint Dixon, Steve Gooch, Randy Robertson, Marty Harbin, Billy Hickman, Bo Hatchett, Sam Watson, Greg Dolezal, Jason Anavitarte, Kim Jackson, Max Burns, Ricky Williams, Ed Setzler, Lee Anderson, Russ Goodman, Carmen Rice - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69699 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,303 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb63.md?full=1