--- title: SR 489. Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities; create collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sr489 cite_as: SR 489, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr489 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr489.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr489/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71792 date: 2025-04-02 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/sr488.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr490.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 429 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr489.md?full=1 bill_number: SR 489 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: resolution status_date: 2025-04-02 last_action: Senate Passed/Adopted sponsors: - Clint Dixon - Drew Echols - Billy Hickman - Sally Harrell - Kay Kirkpatrick - Brian Strickland text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SR489/2025 upstream_id: 2016071 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - students with disabilities - special education - inclusive classrooms - legislative study committee - Georgia schools --- # SR 489. Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities; create ## Text 25 LC 62 0208 Senate Resolution 489 By: Senators Dixon of the 45th, Echols of the 49th, Hickman of the 4th, Harrell of the 40th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd and others ADOPTED SENATE A RESOLUTION Creating the Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Se ttings for Students with1 Disabilities; and for other purposes.2 WHEREAS, inclusive educational settings can offer substantial short- and long-term benefits3 for students with disabilities; and4 WHEREAS, such benefits include being more likely to be enrolled in secondary and5 postsecondary education and live independently as adults; and6 WHEREAS, such benefits also include improved performance on lan guage and math7 assessments, greater growth in the classroom, improved attendan ce, and less behavioral8 issues in the classroom; and9 WHEREAS, students with disabilities have traditionally struggle d to access inclusive10 educational settings due to misconceptions regarding the capabi lities of students with11 disabilities, leading to educators continuing to separate stude nts with disabilities from12 students without disabilities; and13 S. R. 489 - 1 - 25 LC 62 0208 WHEREAS, students with disabilities in inclusive educational settings have either neutral14 or positive benefits for students without disabilities; and15 WHEREAS, there is a need to examine the data and benefits of inclusive educational settings16 for students in Georgia.17 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:18 (1) Creation of Senate study committee. There is created the Senate Study Committee19 on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities.20 (2) Members and officers. The committee shall be composed of seven members of the21 Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall22 designate a member of the committee as chairperson of the committee.23 (3) Powers and duties. The committee shall undertake a study of the conditions, needs,24 issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any action or25 legislation which the committee deems necessary or appropriate.26 (4) Meetings. The chairperson shall call all meetings of the committee. The committee27 may conduct such meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem necessary or28 convenient to enable it to exercise fully and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and29 accomplish the objectives and purposes of this resolution.30 (5) Allowances and funding.31 (A) The legislative members of the committee shall receive the allowances provided32 for in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.33 (B) The allowances authorized by this resolution shall not be received by any member34 of the committee for more than five days unless additional days are authorized. Funds35 necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution shall come from funds36 appropriated to the Senate.37 S. R. 489 - 2 - 25 LC 62 0208 (6) Report.38 (A) In the event the committee adopts any specific findings or recommendations that39 include suggestions for proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file a report of the40 same prior to the date of abolishment specified in this resolut ion, subject to41 subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.42 (B) In the event the committee adopts a report that does not i nclude suggestions for43 proposed legislation, the chairperson shall file the report, subject to subparagraph (C)44 of this paragraph.45 (C) No report shall be filed unless the same has been approved prior to the date of46 abolishment specified in this resolution by majority vote of a quorum of the committee. 47 A report so approved shall be signed by the chairperson of the committee and filed with48 the Secretary of the Senate.49 (D) In the absence of an approved report, the chairperson may file with the Secretary50 of the Senate a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the committee in lieu thereof.51 (7) Abolishment. The committee shall stand abolished on December 1, 2025.52 S. R. 489 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the resolution. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia Senate resolution would create a study committee to examine how inclusive classroom settings affect students with disabilities and their peers, with a report due by December 2025. ### Plain-language summary This resolution creates the Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities. It responds to research cited in the resolution's preamble suggesting that students with disabilities benefit academically and socially when taught alongside students without disabilities, and that such settings do not harm other students. The committee would have seven senators appointed by the President of the Senate, one of whom would serve as chairperson. It would study conditions and problems related to inclusive education for students with disabilities and could recommend legislation. Members would receive standard legislative allowances under Georgia law (O.C.G.A. ยง 28-1-8) for up to five meeting days unless more are approved, funded through the Senate's budget. The committee must file any approved report before it is abolished on December 1, 2025. ### What it does - Creates the Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities, made up of seven senators. - Directs the President of the Senate to appoint the members and designate one as chairperson. - Authorizes the committee to study issues around inclusive education for students with disabilities and recommend legislation. - Sets a cap of five paid meeting days per member unless additional days are authorized, funded from the Senate's existing budget. - Requires any approved findings or recommendations to be filed as a report with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee ends. - Abolishes the committee automatically on December 1, 2025. ### Who it affects The resolution directly affects the seven senators who would be appointed to the study committee. Indirectly, it concerns Georgia students with disabilities, their families, teachers, and school administrators, since the committee's work centers on how these students are placed and supported in classrooms. ### Why it matters The committee's findings could shape future legislation on how Georgia schools place and support students with disabilities in classrooms alongside their peers. For now, the resolution itself changes no laws or school practices; it only sets up a temporary body to study the issue and report back. ### Key provisions - Paragraph (1) formally creates the Senate Study Committee on Inclusive Educational Settings for Students with Disabilities. - Paragraph (2) sets committee membership at seven senators appointed by the President of the Senate, who also names the chairperson. - Paragraph (3) charges the committee with studying inclusive education issues and recommending action or legislation. - Paragraph (4) lets the chairperson schedule meetings as needed to carry out the committee's work. - Paragraph (5) limits paid allowances to five days per member unless more days are authorized, funded through Senate appropriations. - Paragraph (6) requires a majority vote to approve any report, which must be filed with the Secretary of the Senate before the committee's end date, or minutes filed instead. - Paragraph (7) abolishes the committee on December 1, 2025. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-04-02) - Last action: Senate Passed/Adopted (2025-04-02) - Sponsors: Clint Dixon, Drew Echols, Billy Hickman, Sally Harrell, Kay Kirkpatrick, Brian Strickland - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71792 > The history, votes, and amendments (429 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr489.md?full=1