HB971: HB971 Quality Basic Education Act; home study students and private school students to enroll in college and career academies located in certain RESA service areas and adjacent local school systems; provide

Georgia law already allows home study students and private school students to enroll in courses at college and career academies, which offer technical and career training alongside academics. Under current law, that option is generally tied to the student's home school system. House Bill 971 amends that law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-319.5) to let local school systems enroll these students in academy courses located anywhere within the same regional educational service agency (RESA) service area as the student's home, or in an adjacent school system, even if that neighboring system is in a different RESA area, as long as space is available. The bill also updates the definition of an eligible course to match the CTAE (career, technical, and agricultural education) course list already defined elsewhere in state law. It keeps existing rules requiring the State Board of Education to set enrollment procedures, requiring students to follow the academy's code of conduct, and barring these schools from charging tuition. The changes would take effect July 1, 2026, starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

• Expands where home study and private school students can take college and career academy courses, adding the student's RESA service area and adjacent school systems as eligible locations.
• Removes the prior limit that appears to have tied enrollment mainly to the student's resident school system, so students can now cross into nearby districts if space allows.
• Updates the definition of an eligible course to reference the CTAE course list already defined in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161.3.
• Keeps in place existing rules that these students must follow the academy's code of conduct, pay any standard course fees, and arrange their own transportation.
• Preserves the ban on charging these students tuition and the requirement that local boards earn state FTE (full-time equivalent) funding for each student enrolled through a chartered academy.
• Sets the changes to take effect July 1, 2026, applying starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

Home study students and private school students across Georgia, their parents, local school systems and boards of education, regional educational service agencies (RESAs), and college and career academies that offer CTAE courses to outside students.

Families who home school or send children to private school would have access to more college and career academy course options, since students would no longer be limited to academies inside their exact home school system. Local districts would also see funding and enrollment procedures tied to this wider geographic reach.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-319.5 to authorize enrollment in courses at academies located in the student's resident school system, the same RESA service area, or an adjacent local school system regardless of RESA area.
• Section 1 revises the definition of 'course' to mean an eligible CTAE course as defined in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-161.3, rather than any course offered to public school students.
• Subsection (c) directs the State Board of Education to set rules on enrollment forms, timelines, academic and disciplinary reporting, and other procedures.
• Subsection (d) requires these students to meet the same enrollment requirements, follow the code of conduct, and pay applicable course fees as public school students at the academy.
• Subsection (e) makes home study and private school students responsible for their own transportation to and from the academy.
• Subsection (f) requires local boards to earn FTE funding for these students at chartered academies and bars charging them tuition.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

1. 2026-03-31Senate Tabled (Senate)
2. 2026-03-19Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
3. 2026-03-18Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
4. 2026-02-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
5. 2026-02-24House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-02-24House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-01-16House Second Readers (House)

• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)Primary sponsor
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Buddy DeLoach (R, HD-167)
• Lynn Smith (R, HD-070)
• Mitchell Horner (R, HD-003)
• Angie O'Steen (R, HD-169)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 24, 2026

   164 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 9 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #547

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 31, 2026

   39 yea, 10 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Motion To Table Remaining Legislation On The Rules Calendar: Senate Vote #912

• college and career academies
• home schooling
• private schools
• school enrollment
• CTAE courses