HB989: HB989 Education; public comment periods during meetings of local boards of education; provide

Georgia law already requires local boards of education to hold open monthly meetings, but it does not specifically guarantee the public a chance to speak. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 20-2-58 to require every local board of education to build a public comment period into its regular monthly meetings, and it lets boards add comment periods to other meetings if they choose. The bill limits how much advance notice a board can demand from someone who wants to speak (no more than 24 hours), lets the board chairperson control how long comments run and how many people speak on an issue, and requires the comment period to appear on the posted meeting agenda. It also requires that any recording or broadcast of a meeting, including webcasts, cover the public comment period the same way it covers the rest of the public meeting. No effective date is stated beyond the standard process once signed.

• Requires every local board of education to include a public comment period during its regular monthly meetings.
• Bars local boards from requiring more than 24 hours' notice from someone who wants to speak during public comment.
• Requires that public comment periods be recorded or broadcast the same way as the rest of a public meeting, including webcasts.
• Requires public comment periods to be listed on the meeting agenda that must be posted before the meeting.
• Lets the board chairperson limit how long each person can speak and how many people can speak on either side of an issue.
• Allows, but does not require, local boards to add a public comment period to meetings other than the regular monthly meeting.

Local boards of education across Georgia, school district administrators who prepare meeting agendas and recordings, and members of the public, including parents, teachers, and community members who want to address their local school board.

Georgians who want to speak at school board meetings would gain a guaranteed opportunity to do so, with limited notice requirements and a recorded or broadcast record of what was said, while school boards would face new logistical duties around agendas, recording, and managing speaker time.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-2-58(a) to require a public comment period at each regular monthly board meeting and add it to the required posted agenda.
• Section 1 caps advance notice a board can demand from a speaker at 24 hours before the meeting.
• Section 1 gives the chairperson discretion to limit comment length and the number of speakers per side of an issue.
• New paragraph (c)(3) requires public comment periods to be recorded or broadcast in the same manner and to the same extent as the rest of the public meeting.
• New paragraph (c)(3) allows, but does not require, comment periods at meetings other than the regular monthly meeting.
• Existing rules on removing disruptive members of the public and on law enforcement authority are retained and renumbered within subsection (c).
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-16House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-15House Hopper (House)

• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)Primary sponsor
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Solomon Adesanya (D, HD-043)
• Mary Williams (D, HD-037)
• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-035)

• school board meetings
• public comment
• open meetings law
• education policy
• local government transparency