SB445: SB445 "Georgia Promise Scholarship Act"; public schools with a state-wide attendance zone and certain charter schools shall not be included in the separate list of public schools annually reported by the Office of Student Achievement; provide

Georgia's Promise Scholarship program lets qualifying students take state funds to pay for private school tuition or other approved education expenses. This bill changes several of the program's rules. It shortens the public school enrollment period required before a student can qualify, adds an age cutoff for the kindergarten exception, and adds a new first-grade exception. It rewrites how students whose family income exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level can qualify when extra funds are available, adding a prioritization system for bullying victims and returning participants. The bill also changes how account money is allocated (quarterly allocations instead of payments), lets the education savings authority deduct up to 5 percent annually to cover administrative costs, and limits how long a private school can remain nonaccredited while enrolling scholarship students. It also removes schools with a state-wide attendance zone and certain charter schools from the low-performing schools list used to determine scholarship eligibility. The changes take effect once signed by the Governor.

• Reduces from two to one the number of public school enrollment counts a student must have completed to qualify for a Promise Scholarship account, while adding age limits for kindergarten and new first-grade exceptions.
• Rewrites the process for letting students whose family income exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level qualify when extra program funds are available, adding priority for bullying victims and returning participants.
• Requires private schools in the process of becoming accredited to submit annual proof of progress, and bars them from enrolling scholarship students if accreditation takes more than two years.
• Changes account funding from quarterly payments to quarterly fund allocations and lets the education savings authority deduct up to 5 percent annually to cover administrative costs not otherwise funded.
• Removes public schools with a state-wide attendance zone and certain charter schools from the list of low-performing public schools that the Office of Student Achievement reports each year, a list used to determine which students can access scholarships.
• Moves the deadline for the Office of Student Achievement to publish its list of low-performing schools from December 1 to January 15 and requires the Department of Education to supply a complete list of all public schools by October 1.

Families applying for or already using Promise Scholarship accounts, private schools that enroll scholarship students, the education savings authority that runs the program, the Department of Education, the Office of Student Achievement, and public schools with a state-wide attendance zone or charter status.

The changes affect which students can qualify for scholarship money, how much and how often families receive funds, which private schools can keep enrolling scholarship students without full accreditation, and which public schools count toward the underperforming-schools list that helps determine scholarship eligibility statewide.

• Section 2 shortens the required public school enrollment period from two enrollment counts to one and adds an age-seven cutoff for the kindergarten exception plus a new first-grade exception.
• Section 2 also rewrites qualification rules for students whose family income exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level, including quarterly funding determinations and bullying-victim prioritization.
• Section 3 requires private schools to submit certified financial reports and bars nonaccredited private schools from enrolling scholarship students if accreditation takes more than two years.
• Section 4 sets the first-year account amount at $6,500.00 per student, changes payments to quarterly fund allocations, and closes accounts inactive for eight consecutive quarters, sending unused funds back to the state general fund.
• Section 5 lets the education savings authority deduct up to 5 percent annually from accounts to cover program administration costs not covered by appropriated funds.
• Section 6 changes the annual reporting deadline and requires the report to include fiscal impact data and percentages of funds spent on administration.
• Section 7 excludes public schools with a state-wide attendance zone and certain charter schools from the low-performing schools list and moves the publication deadline from December 1 to January 15.
• Section 8 makes the Act effective upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.

1. 2026-03-10House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-09House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-06Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
5. 2026-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
6. 2026-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2026-02-03Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2026-02-02Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)

1. FailedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   21 yea, 32 nay (2 not voting, 0 absent)

   Adoption Of Amendment #1 By The Senator From The 38th: Senate Vote #646

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   50 yea, 2 nay (3 not voting, 0 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #647

• school vouchers
• education savings accounts
• private school funding
• public school accountability
• Georgia Promise Scholarship