SB 471: Education; requires a student to wear a face mask or face covering while present on school property; eliminate automatic repeal provision

In 2022, the Georgia General Assembly passed a law (Ga. L. 2022, p. 23/SB 514) saying that local school boards, superintendents, and school staff cannot make or enforce a rule requiring students to wear a face mask or face covering on school property unless the rule lets a parent or guardian opt their child out. That 2022 law included a provision that would have caused it to automatically expire at a later date. SB 471 amends that 2022 law by repealing and reserving Section 6, which was the automatic repeal provision. Removing that section means the mask opt-out protections no longer have a built-in end date and would continue to apply to Georgia public schools indefinitely, unless changed by future legislation.

• Amends the 2022 law on school mask rules by repealing Section 6, which was the provision setting an automatic future repeal date.
• Leaves in place the underlying rule that local school boards and staff cannot require masks unless parents can opt their child out.
• Makes the parental opt-out protection permanent rather than temporary, since it no longer has a built-in expiration.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change.

Local school boards of education, school superintendents, and other school administrators, teachers, and staff who set rules about face coverings, as well as students and their parents or guardians in Georgia's public schools.

Without this change, the 2022 mask opt-out law was set to expire at some point, potentially leaving school mask policy without that specific state-level restriction. By removing the expiration, the bill would keep in place, on an ongoing basis, the requirement that parents be allowed to exempt their child from any school mask mandate.

• Section 1 amends the 2022 Act (Ga. L. 2022, p. 23/SB 514) by repealing and reserving Section 6 of that Act, which contained the automatic repeal provision.
• Section 2 repeals any other Georgia laws or parts of laws that conflict with this Act.
• The bill does not change the underlying substantive rule that school mask mandates must include a parental opt-out.

1. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
2. 2026-03-04House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2026-03-03Senate Passed/Adopted (Senado)
4. 2026-03-03Senate Third Read (Senado)
5. 2026-02-12Senate Read Second Time (Senado)
6. 2026-02-11Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senado)
7. 2026-02-09Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
8. 2026-02-06Senate Hopper (Senado)

• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)Patrocinador principal
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-021)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)

1. AprobadaVotación: Senado3 de marzo de 2026

   51 a favor, 1 en contra (0 sin votar, 3 ausentes)

   Passage: Senate Vote #611

• school mask policies
• parental rights in schools
• public school regulations
• education law