HB1471: HB1471 Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act; enact

Georgia law currently spells out reasons students can be excused from school, but does not specifically address mental health. This bill, called the Georgia Student Mental Health Days Act, would add a new section to the state's compulsory attendance law requiring every local school system and public school to adopt a policy granting students an excused absence for a mental health day, up to five days per school year. Parents or guardians (or students who are 18 or older or emancipated) would have to notify the school before the absence, and schools would document it, but no student or parent could be forced to disclose details about the student's mental health to get the absence excused. Schools would also have to tell families about available mental health resources at the start of each year or upon enrollment. The State Board of Education would create a model policy, and 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 five excused mental health absences per school year.
• Defines a 'mental health day' as an absence due to a student's mental health or emotional well-being (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-692.5).
• Requires parents, guardians, or eligible students to notify the school in advance and requires schools to document these absences.
• Bars schools from requiring disclosure of mental health details as a condition of excusing the absence.
• Requires public schools to notify families each year about available mental health resources or services.
• Directs the State Board of Education to create a model policy for local systems to use.

Georgia public school students and their parents or guardians, local school systems and individual public schools that must adopt attendance policies, and the State Board of Education, which must draft a statewide model policy for districts to follow.

Students who need time off for mental health reasons would get a formal, protected way to take up to five excused days a year without having to explain personal details to school staff, while schools gain a clear legal framework and must actively share mental health resource information with families.

• 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 policies granting up to five excused absences per school year.
• Subsection (b) requires advance notification by a parent, guardian, or eligible student and documentation of the absence.
• Subsection (c) prohibits schools from requiring disclosure of mental health or emotional well-being details to excuse the absence.
• Subsection (d) requires schools to notify parents or guardians about available mental health resources at the start of the year or upon enrollment.
• Subsection (e) requires the State Board of Education to develop a model policy for schools to use.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2026, applying starting with the 2026-2027 school year.

1. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)Primary sponsor
• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)

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