SB560: SB560 County Board of Education of DeKalb County; provisions governing the use of third party search firms in selecting a superintendent; provide

This bill amends the 1963 local law that created DeKalb County's school board districts. It targets a specific situation: when the county board of education hires an outside search firm to help find a new superintendent, covering tasks like candidate searches, interviews, background checks, and pay comparisons. The bill adds a new section requiring that any such contract include a provision making the search firm perform employment and personal background checks and risk assessments on any person the board considers among the best qualified within 14 days before the final vote, regardless of whether the firm found that candidate. The board could not hire anyone who has not gone through this vetting. The board also could not end its contract with the search firm to dodge this requirement, and could only terminate the contract through a separate, publicly listed vote at a board meeting.

• Requires any contract between the DeKalb County school board and a third party search firm for superintendent hiring to include mandatory background checks and risk assessments.
• Applies the vetting requirement to any candidate the board views as a finalist within 14 days of its final vote, even if the search firm did not identify that person.
• Bars the board from appointing a superintendent who has not cooperated with and undergone these checks.
• Prohibits the board from ending its search firm contract as a way to avoid these vetting requirements.
• Requires that any termination of the search firm contract happen through a separate public vote listed specifically on a board meeting agenda.

The DeKalb County Board of Education, third party search firms it hires for superintendent recruitment, and candidates for the DeKalb County superintendent position, who would all be subject to the new background check and vetting rules.

The bill would close a potential gap where a finalist candidate for DeKalb County superintendent might avoid full background vetting if a search firm did not originally identify them, and it would make it harder for the board to quietly end a vetting contract.

• Section 1 adds a new Section 3.3 to the 1963 DeKalb County school board districting law, applying only when the board hires a third party for superintendent search services.
• The new section requires background checks and risk assessments for any candidate deemed among the best qualified within 14 calendar days before the board's final vote, citing Georgia's open records law exemption for such records (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-72(a)(11)).
• The board cannot appoint a superintendent who has not undergone these checks, and cannot cancel the search firm contract just to avoid this requirement.
• Any termination of the search firm contract must occur through a public vote taken as a separate, clearly listed agenda item at a board meeting.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-03Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
4. 2026-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
5. 2026-02-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
6. 2026-02-24Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)Primary sponsor
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 3, 2026

   45 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 4 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #600

• DeKalb County schools
• superintendent hiring
• school board governance
• local legislation
• background checks