SB557: SB557 Education; various provisions regarding student discipline and working conditions of teachers and other school personnel; revise

Georgia law lets the State Board of Education grant local school systems waivers and variances from certain state rules in exchange for flexibility contracts, and lets charter schools operate under modified rules. This bill adds student discipline requirements (O.C.G.A. Part 2 of Article 16 of Chapter 2) and the complaint policy for teachers and school personnel (Part 11 of Article 17) to the list of rules that can never be waived, across several waiver programs including strategic waivers, quality basic education waivers, charter schools, and completion special schools. The bill also creates a new Code section requiring every local board of education and public school governing body to adopt, by August 1, 2026, policies letting an employee who is the victim of physical violence by a student or a student's parent or guardian transfer to a similar job at another school in the same district, without retaliation. Finally, it changes the state's school climate star rating system so it can no longer use student discipline data in scoring school climate. The changes take effect July 1, 2026, starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

• Adds student discipline rules and the teacher/staff complaint policy to the list of state requirements that cannot be waived under several school flexibility and charter waiver programs.
• Requires local boards of education and public school governing bodies to adopt, by August 1, 2026, a transfer policy for employees who are victims of physical violence by a student or a student's parent or guardian.
• Bars retaliation or adverse action against an employee who transfers or requests a transfer under this new policy.
• Prohibits the state's school climate star rating system from using student discipline data as a factor in rating schools.
• Sets an effective date of July 1, 2026, applying starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

Local school boards and charter school governing bodies, which must update waiver requests and adopt new transfer policies; public school teachers and other staff, especially those who experience violence on the job; and the Department of Education and Office of Student Achievement, which run the waiver and school climate rating systems.

School employees assaulted by a student or a parent would gain a guaranteed path to move to a similar job elsewhere in their district without being punished for it, and districts could no longer bargain away student discipline or complaint-policy protections in exchange for flexibility. School climate ratings would also shift to exclude discipline records.

• Section 1-1 through 1-4 amend O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-82, 20-2-244, 20-2-2065, and 20-2-2096.3 to add student discipline rules (Part 2, Article 16) and the staff complaint policy (Part 11, Article 17) to the list of protections the State Board cannot waive.
• Section 2-1 creates new O.C.G.A. § 20-2-222, requiring local boards and public school governing bodies to adopt, by August 1, 2026, a transfer policy for employees who are victims of physical violence, as defined in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751.6.
• Section 2-1 also bars retaliation against an employee who transfers or asks to transfer under the new policy.
• Section 3-1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-14-33(c)(1) to state that school climate star rating determinations shall not use data regarding student discipline.
• Section 4-1 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

1. 2026-02-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-24Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)

• student discipline
• teacher safety
• school climate ratings
• charter school waivers
• education policy