SB490: SB490 "Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act"; enact

Currently Georgia's compulsory attendance law does not specifically address absences taken for mental health reasons. This bill, called the "Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act," would add a new section to Georgia's school attendance code requiring every local school system and public school to adopt a policy granting students an excused absence, up to three days per school year, for what the bill calls a "mental health day," defined as an absence due to a student's mental health or emotional well-being. Parents or guardians (or students 18 or older, or emancipated minors) would need to notify the school before taking the day, and schools would document the excused absence. Schools could not require disclosure of details about the student's mental health condition to excuse the absence. Schools would also have to notify families each year about available mental health resources, and the State Board of Education would create a model policy for districts to use. The law would take effect July 1, 2026, starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

• Requires every local school system and public school to adopt a policy granting students up to three excused mental health absence days per school year.
• Defines a 'mental health day' as an absence from school due to a student's mental health or emotional well-being.
• Requires parental or student notification before the absence and documentation of the excused absence by the school.
• Bars schools from requiring students or parents to disclose mental health details to get the absence excused.
• Requires public schools to notify parents or guardians each year about available mental health resources or services.
• Directs the State Board of Education to create a model policy for local school systems to use.

Public school students and their parents or guardians across Georgia, local school system governing boards and public schools that must adopt and enforce the new policy, and the State Board of Education, which must develop a model policy for districts to follow.

Students could take up to three days off for mental health reasons each year without providing medical details, and schools would have to formally recognize and document these absences as excused rather than unexcused, which can affect attendance records and truancy consequences.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act.'
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 20-2-692.5, defining 'mental health day' and requiring local governing bodies to adopt a policy allowing up to three excused absences per school year for this reason.
• The new law requires notice from a parent, guardian, or eligible student before the absence and documentation by the school under subsection (b).
• Subsection (c) prohibits schools from requiring disclosure of mental health details to excuse the absence.
• Subsection (d) requires public schools to notify parents or guardians about available mental health resources at the start of each school year or upon enrollment.
• Subsection (e) requires the State Board of Education to develop a model policy for local systems to use.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

1. 2026-02-11Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-10Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)Primary sponsor
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Jaha Howard (D, SD-035)

• student mental health
• school attendance policy
• K-12 education
• excused absences