Senate Education and Youth Committee, February 19, 2026 Video: https://vimeo.com/1165796427 (a timestamp t plays at https://vimeo.com/1165796427#t=s) Page: https://georgiacommons.org/meetings/2026-02-19/senate-education-and-youth This is a machine transcript of the General Assembly's video, made by a speech-recognition model. It is not an official record and can mishear words, names, and numbers. Speakers are not identified. The video is the record: every timestamp links to the moment it plays. [0:16:59] Lord God, thank you for this day, Lord, and thank you that you've given us an opportunity, Lord, to represent all of Georgia and all of the nation. Lord, we just ask you to provide us with the wisdom and the, uh, ability to make the right decisions, Lord, that will help all people. In your Son's name we pray, amen. [0:17:15] Amen. [0:17:17] I'm gonna step aside 'cause my bill is the first bill that we'll finish up from last week, and, uh, Senator Payne will take, take c- control. [0:17:25] Control? [0:17:32] Yeah. Oh. [0:17:36] Is this the one, his bill? [0:17:38] Yeah, there are two. [0:17:39] Oh, okay. [0:17:43] Go ahead, Mr. Chairman. Let's go ahead and present your bill. [0:17:46] Thank you, sir. [0:17:46] Or I know, I know that y'all, w- we presented the bill last week- [0:17:49] Yeah [0:17:49] ... or the other day, but, um, if you'll go ahead and... I know there's a substitute- [0:17:53] That's right [0:17:53] ... you, you brought forward. [0:17:54] Well, we got a friendly amendment. I, I've got... Well, thank you, sir. We, we working off of LC 49-2646A. Um, we went through all the particulars about the bill the other day, and because of time, I don't wanna go through all that again unless committee wants us to, but hopefully y'all, y'all don't. But I do want to, um, add an amendment to my part of it, and then we've got a friendly amendment also that's gonna come from Senator Setzler that I have reviewed extensively with, um, uh, legislative council and with, uh, um, with, with the House and all. [0:18:29] So I think that when Senator Setzler presents that, I think we all will agree that's a very good amendment. So first amendment to the bill, if you will go to, um, line 274 of the bill, there's a paragraph in there, uh, "Department of Audits and Accounts shall be authorized to, to prepare financial statement of conduct always using a regulatory basis of accounting as an alternative to generally accepted accounting principle. Department of Audits and Accounts in a consultation with Department of Education shall create and maintain an optional regulatory basis of accounting framework and shall make such framework available to local school system." In working with the House, the Hou- House had this same version, paragraph in their bill. [0:19:09] In working with the House, um, they took it out of their bill, and they've asked us to take it out. And I agree with taking it out, and, uh, hopefully, uh, the members of the committee will also agree with it. So that's, that's the amendment that I would like to make for, for, uh, v- from this bill before Senator Setzler makes his amendment. [0:19:25] And so that, that is the amendment of 49-0288? [0:19:30] No, sir. I think that may be Senator Setzler's amendment. [0:19:33] So we're just taking that out, just striking that. [0:19:35] We... Yes, we're taking the, we're taking lines 274 through 279 out. [0:19:44] And, uh, and then, and Department of Audits, we also worked with them on the bill. [0:19:51] Yes, sir. [0:19:52] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh, in that case, also on line 258, I would recommend removing one. Since we're taking away paragraph two, we should take away the paragraph one designation, so just removing the numeral one after C on line 258. [0:20:10] So Michael, remove line one on, on 250- I'd make it m- Yeah, make it r- r- remove line, rem- remove the number one on line 258. [0:20:20] Well, actually, uh, I'd ask... I misspoke. We'll actually need to remove from one through [0:20:31] all, so that entire underscored portion on line 258. We need to take that out since we're no longer having a paragraph two. [0:20:40] Okay, so tell me what you're talking about. [0:20:42] On line 258, we will need to remove the number one followed by, "Except as provided in paragraph two of this subsection, all." I would remove all of that underscored provision, and I would remove the strikethrough in the capitalized word all, so that line 258 after the amendment would read, "All audits." [0:21:09] Okay. Okay, sure. Along with line 274 through 279. [0:21:16] Correct. [0:21:16] Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. That's why we got you here. I thought, I thought everybody laughed at that. Nobody laughed at that. [0:21:29] Okay. [0:21:29] Yes, sir, and that, that, that's my friendly amendment to the bill. [0:21:34] All right. Um, any questions to the committee on the amendment? [0:21:42] Can you read it back real quick? The, I got the last part, but the first part? [0:21:46] Yeah, Michael, please. [0:21:49] Uh, yeah, on line 258, the, a- after the amendment, line 258 would read, "All audits," and then lines 274 through 279 would be removed. [0:22:01] Okay. Okay. [0:22:03] Thank you. [0:22:03] Mr. Chair, apparent on... I know 274 through 279, we worked with Department of Audits on that and also with the House on that. House originally had that in their version also. They took it out, and we want to do... This is really a kind of almost like a companion bill with what they've done, okay? [0:22:20] Thank you. [0:22:20] Okay. [0:22:21] Thank you, sir. [0:22:22] Um, f- well, I just... Thank you, sir. Uh, uh, just for clarify, we need to ma- we need, we need to go ahead and take a motion on the bill first before we start adding am- uh, offering amendments. So, um, any further questions on the underlying bill? [0:22:39] Seeing none, uh, do I have a motion? I move. A motion, Senator Setzler, and I have second. Any further discussion? [0:22:51] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [0:22:52] Senator. [0:22:52] Um, the chair, um, shared his, his, uh, friendly amendment. I want to share my, uh, proposed friendly amendment, uh, which is AM490288. [0:23:04] If I could direct members to that, um- [0:23:06] And Mr. Chairman, every-everybody, every member has an electronic version of that amendment and a, and a, uh, paper copy of it in their file. [0:23:14] Thank you, sir. What this simply does, and I appreciate the chair working with me in, in council, uh, yesterday. This is, uh, um... What it does is if these circumstances exist where these, you know, emergency actions, in essence, have to be taken to remove school board members, it c- it makes sure that the, if the school board members, um, having been removed, oftentimes the real responsibility is in the hands of the superintendent that, that led to these circumstances. [0:23:44] This allows the school board, the incoming school board, should they choose to, to be able to remove the superintendent if he was, he or she was really the, the, the proximate cause of this. Um, oftentimes they're under, they're under, under multi-year contracts. This, this clarifies that it would be a, allow them to terminate them and replace the superintendent, which is the one that's really gonna implement whatever fix there's gonna be. [0:24:06] Thank you, sir. [0:24:07] Thank you. Who's number 12 then? [0:24:10] Me. [0:24:11] Okay. [0:24:12] Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, um, Senator Setzler. My question is, um, I, I, as we discussed at our prior hearing, think that you're definitely onto something with, um, you know, this, this, uh, amendment. What I wanted to make sure is clear is that the superintendent has to have been the superintendent during the time that the system was put in the, the, you know, troubled category. [0:24:43] Because otherwise, A, it wouldn't seem fair, and B, recruitment of a new superintendent would be incredibly difficult. You know, as you know, there's plenty of superint- too much, really, superintendent turnover around the country, and, um, there's always a big search done that's usually pretty costly. So there's that, and it would be just hard to get someone quality if they were s- if they had to come in on a one-year contract. Like, no one's gonna move their family across the country for that. So just wanna make sure that's clear, and wasn't sure that it is. [0:25:09] Yep. Uh, Mr. Chairman, if I could direct, uh, the senator's attention, um, to line 23 and 24 of the amendment. [0:25:21] Um, and again, this, this, this is in terms of the superintendents are typically the only ones in the school system that have an employment contra- in the senior folks in, in, in the district office that have the, have, have these one-year or multi-year contracts. So it, the, the language that exists that's, that would be customary is active default of contract, meaning that the contract terms of a three-year contract could be, you know, you get around that to be able to fire someone for cause. Uh, for the local supe- school, school superintendent to be the subject of a finding by the state auditor of financial mismanagement. [0:25:54] So they, they have to be the subject of the findings by the state auditor of financial mismanagement or misconduct. So the subject of that is exactly why, to your point, uh, they've gotta be at the center of this. It can't just be some, this isn't some workaround to allow superintendents' contracts to be voided. [0:26:10] So follow-up, so how-- I guess I'm wondering, uh, uh... [0:26:19] Mm. I, I still don't know that that takes care of what I mentioned as it relates to section, subsection two on 16 through 19. [0:26:26] Okay. [0:26:26] But I'm sure this is-- I know you're, I know we're of one mind about what the intent is, so I don't- [0:26:31] Okay [0:26:31] ... we don't need to belabor it for hours, I'm sure. Um, you know, we could probably chat and make sure that it's, it's clear. But I'm not totally positive that what you've got in three relates back that, to that degree to two. [0:26:43] Um, are you talking about in the, in the underlying bill? [0:26:47] No, no, I'm talking about your amendment. Um, I'm not, uh, I'm not sure, and maybe Leg Counsel can just weigh in because maybe, maybe I'm just reading it wrong. Um, it may well be that you're 100% correct. Yeah, and I think... [0:27:02] Leg Counsel. [0:27:05] Senator, yeah, line 16 through 19, that would add paragraph two. This code section in general deals with the contracts for superintendents and the provisions of paragraph two. Um, [0:27:19] they do not result in the, the local superintendent being, uh, discharged or a termination of contract. It does place a limitation on an extension of that superintendent's contract if they get designated as a high risk. [0:27:33] Versus a new superintendent. [0:27:34] Correct. [0:27:34] That's what I wanted to make sure was- [0:27:36] So it's- [0:27:36] ... taken care of [0:27:36] ... so you're right. There, there... It may be that a superintendent inherited a mess, but they can't give the, even the one who inherited a mess couldn't necessarily get a three-year extension. They could only extend the contract one year at a time to work through the mess. [0:27:49] Well, I do think that then does actually maybe need a little bit of thought by the committee because the, given the lengthy searches and the competitiveness, I don't know that you wanna have a lot of candidates who are like, "I'm not going to a system that's in trouble when I can only also get a one-year contract." [0:28:03] To the lady's question, the current state of the law is, if I could, um, that if you're under this, this, um, intense monitoring by the state, it's already the law that you can't exten- you can't, you can't have a contract longer than 12 months. That's current law. This mirrors that, um, and is, so that doesn't change that reality for sy-systems that are currently under this intense monitoring. [0:28:29] So that is existing law, is what you're saying. [0:28:31] That, that, the condition of districts that are under this state forward funding for, for, for, for QBE dollars and some associated conditions, um, if you're in that status, um, it is my understanding and it can be confirmed by counsel that the, it, it's already the case. Your, your superintendents are limited 12-month contracts. And this is, this, this, this paragraph two is mirroring that as we roll in these provisions of paragraphs, um, I guess, uh So paragraphs A and B that just clarify that they can be removed, uh, if the, again, if there's these financial mismanagement or misconduct. [0:29:15] Counsel, am I stating that properly? [0:29:18] Uh, I would have to look into that, Senator. I'm not familiar with that being an existing law. Um, the, the provisions of paragraph two, that, that would be, uh, new law. Um, I can say that this, uh, the provisions of paragraph two, um, do match what is in the companion bill in the House, but it is not yet enacted that I'm familiar with. If it is a provision of current law, I'd be happy to look into it. [0:29:43] Okay. And to, to, to, to the Senator, it was my understanding that was the case that the... And, and the chair may be able to correct me on this, that this provision, if, if you're under this intense supervision, that 12-month contract is a limitation. Is that under the s- the house companion bill, or is that under current... I'm tr- try- trying to understand that 'cause I, I'm maybe misinformed on that. [0:30:06] That, that would be a provision in the house companion bill. [0:30:09] Okay. [0:30:09] That would be a new provision of law. [0:30:10] That's what I thought. [0:30:11] It-- And if you did not want it in your amendment, it, it would be easy enough to remove it from the amendment. [0:30:17] Yeah. I'm fine to leave it there 'cause I think it's, again, if we're, if you're in a circumstance of this intense monitoring, um, the ability to put a multi-year contract in place for somebody for a district that, that is essentially has state intervention on a, on a week-by-week basis seems appropriate. Um, but I think the most important thing here is, if we're gonna, as a general assembly, put a, a process in place where duly elected school board members can be removed because of financial mismanagement, we just need to make sure that the replacement school board has the powers they need should they need to re- remove a superintendent to do that. [0:30:55] I'm just trying to make su- That, that was the intention, um, and appreciate counsel's clarification. [0:31:03] Thank you. I could return to it during discussion. [0:31:05] Okay. Okay. [0:31:08] Yeah. [0:31:08] All right. Any further discussion on... We'll call [0:31:15] on this amendment? [0:31:17] No. [0:31:17] Huh? [0:31:18] We can do the first one. [0:31:19] Yeah, I'm going back. [0:31:19] Yeah. [0:31:21] Okay. Um, then we'll go back to the first amendment as the chairman brought. Um, and w- you wanna restate that first amendment? [0:31:31] Michael, please do that. [0:31:32] Just for everyone's clarification. [0:31:34] Yes. The Chairman Hickman amendment would, uh, provide on line 20, excuse me, two fifty-eight, uh, the end result of that would be that line two fifty-eight reads all audits. In addition, all of lines two seventy-four through two seventy-nine would be removed. [0:31:51] Move to pass. [0:31:52] Go ahead. [0:31:53] Second. [0:31:54] I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All those in favor of that amendment, please raise your hand. [0:32:04] It's unanimous. Okay. And then... [0:32:13] So now we go back to the second amendment, um, as presented by Senator Setzler. Go and restate that if you would. [0:32:21] Uh, AM four nine. [0:32:25] AM, AM four nine zero two eight eight, as we've discussed, um, again, so that we've got the ability to remove a s-- Th- th- the new school board has the ability to remove a superintendent if there's a finding of financial mismanagement or misconduct. [0:32:41] Second. [0:32:43] I have a second. Motion and a second. [0:32:45] Um, I'd, I'd like to offer a amendment to the amendment for consideration by the committee. [0:32:52] Okay. [0:32:54] Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, seeing as lines 16 through 19 are, would be new law, and knowing how intensive the superintendent search process is and how competitive it is to get really hi- uh, highly qualified ones of the type that you'd wanna be able to recruit to a system that's int-- or a, you know, school system that's already struggling, which obviously is gonna be harder to recruit to in the first place. [0:33:29] I really am afraid that trying to do that on a one-year contract for someone who has not been the superintendent could be incredibly limiting, um, for school systems, as well as simply, like, sort of not practical given the, the necessity for conducting, um, very public, publicly transparent searches, usually guided by search firms. So I just believe and wanted to offer for the committee's consideration that a new superintendent coming in, I'm in full agreement with the senator's intent and with an existing superintendent on the one year. [0:34:05] But a, um, new superintendent coming in, I believe, should be given the ability to have, um, the opportunity to even try to put anything into place, which to me is gonna be longer than 12 months. So I would like to, um, make that th-- uh, three, uh, that they could be offered a three-year contract to start out. [0:34:25] Okay. You wanna speak to her amendment? [0:34:27] Yeah. Uh, uh, to, to the lady, I don't think I'm aga-- Per- personally, um, if it's, if it doesn't affect the limitation on the existing superintendent's contract being limited 12 months, if this is only affecting a new superintendent that could be brought in, um, to help, you know, clean up the mess- [0:34:49] Mm-hmm [0:34:49] ... I'd be friendly to that 'cause I think that's, that's-- If, if, if the chair, it's the chair's bill, is, is the chair friend- friendly to that? [0:34:56] I'll fi- I'll file with you. [0:34:57] Okay. [0:34:57] Yeah, it's, so, so in essence, you're trying to, you're bring- you're, you're turning it, you're bringing in a cleanup, a turnaround superintendent, yeah. [0:35:03] Right. And there, you know, I, I don't need to repeat my points. [0:35:06] Sure, sure. [0:35:06] But yeah. [0:35:06] But I, if I may offer a point of clarification. This, the, the paragraph that you're referring to, Senator, is for extensions. So in other words, the presumption in this paragraph is this is an existing superintendent, not a new superintendent. So just as a hypothetical, a superintendent who had a three-year contract, if during the course of that three-year contract the system was a high-risk school system, then that superintendent could not get extended beyond 12 months. [0:35:33] And that's- [0:35:33] This would not apply to a new contract. [0:35:35] Okay, so that's already in existing law. [0:35:38] That's not in ex- [0:35:39] Or not existing law, but we, we got confused on what two did, which then lost sight of the bigger point- [0:35:44] Right [0:35:44] ... that it is fine that way. So the amendment is not needed. [0:35:47] I, cor- and I may have misspoke earlier, but no, this would, yes, this only applies to contract extensions, not new contracts. [0:35:54] Just wanted to make sure that was clear. Thank you. [0:35:56] Thank you. [0:35:57] Thank you. All right, so now we have a motion for his- [0:36:02] Yeah. [0:36:03] We have a second? [0:36:04] Second. Senator Dixon, I think. [0:36:06] Do what? [0:36:07] Senator Dixon seconded. [0:36:08] Right. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the Second Amendment, please raise your hand. [0:36:19] And it is unanimous. All right, and now we'll vote on the other, the underlying bill as now as amended. [0:36:30] Do I have any motion on that? [0:36:34] I think we're... I think we're still on the original. [0:36:35] Oh, that's right. Okay. Sorry. All those in favor of the mi- of, of Senate Bill 472, LC4924, uh, 2646S by committee substitute, raise your hand. [0:36:54] And it's unanimous. [0:36:55] Thank you, sir. [0:36:56] And it, your bill passes. Thank you, sir. You want to come back up here and take charge? [0:37:01] Enjoy. [0:37:02] We got a unanimous vote. [0:37:11] I like unanimous votes. Makes it easy. Don't have to count. [0:37:17] Senator Sims says we need to rock and roll. I, I want to first take the opportunity to address a very good friend of mine and a, a good, uh, was a constituent, but, uh, but is still a very close friend, and, and also on the State Board of Education, Mr. Matt Donaldson sitting on the front row here. And, uh, Matt, Matt just is very passionate about ed- he's very passionate about education like all of us. And, um, he's also the mayor of a small town called Twin City, Georgia, which was actually at one time called Graymont and Summit, and they combined the two, to one name, Twin City. [0:37:52] So thank you, thank you, Matt, for being here. Um, let's move on to Senator Dixon's bill, and I had told Senator Dixon earlier that we were gonna pick on him a little bit, but I think because of time, we're gonna leave him alone, and, and we'll just get him in the session, okay, 'cause this is his first bill. [0:38:07] Yeah. [0:38:07] Senator Dixon, your turn. [0:38:09] Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it. Thank you, members of the committee. I'm happy to be here. Today, we're gonna be talking about Senate Bill 513, and for reference, this is LC492634, uh, affectionately known as the Everyday Counts Act. So I'm gonna provide you a summary a- and then we can kind of go through the process of it. So the Everyday Counts Act seeks to provide K through 12 public school students absent for unexcused reasons with multi-tiered support systems and personalized attendance intervention plans. [0:38:40] This legislation requires that every local school district has at least one attendance review team available to deve- develop a written attendance intervention plan with the student and guardian. Individual schools with chronic absenteeism rates of 15% or more must also have an attendance review team. This legislation makes chronically absent students ineligible to participate in extracurricular and interscholastic activities until the student and his or her parent or guardian have met with the local school system's attendance review team to develop or modify an attendance intervention plan. [0:39:13] Students ages 15 to 17 who are non-compliant with their attendance intervention plan may be prevented from obtaining a driver's license or permit as the attendance review team will transmit that data to the Georgia Department of Education, and the Georgia, uh, DOE may share that information with the Georgia Department of Driver Services. This legislation does not suspend active driver license or permits. It prevents students from being issued a permit or license if they are non-compliant with the attendance intervention plan in the same manner DDS currently treats students who have been suspended or expelled. [0:39:46] Now, for this committee, if you'll remember that, uh, last year, uh, we passed, uh, Senate Bill 123, which is about chronic absenteeism. And, um, quite a few were on that, uh, from that standpoint, uh, the Senate, this body, uh, passed that bill unanimously. Uh, in the House, uh, it passed with 160 votes with one nay. And, um, and so with that process, after that was done, we had a study committee that was set up, and with that, we had several of you members that were on that committee as well, and I want to recognize them. It was, uh, Senator John Kennedy, uh, that was, uh, the previous pro tem. [0:40:20] We got Senator Billy Hickman, Senator Freddie Powell Sims, Senator RaShaun Kemp, Senator Clint Dixon, and Senator Shawn Still. And from that study, there, there came 14 or 15 or 16 different recommendations. And so with this bill, what we decided to do was to take three or four of those, uh, recommendations from there and look at this as a multi-tiered approach. We know that this is not gonna be a silver bullet. It's not gonna fix every single issue that we've got in our school system. But these, we felt like they're most, uh, we wanted to, uh, create a, and have a, a sense of local control to where it could affect this, both from a student standpoint, the guardian, the schools, and the school district itself. [0:40:57] So as of 2024-2025, the, uh, chronic absentee ra- uh, absenteeism rate here in the State of Georgia was 19.5%. Uh, and if you'll remember that we had kinda defined that previously as chronic absenteeism is defined at 10% or more. And so with that, I just, uh, I'll open the floor up for any questions you may have, and just, uh, request your favorable consideration. [0:41:22] Se- Senator Dixon, that's you. Okay. Who's number seven? Oh, this one. [0:41:27] It's me. [0:41:27] Okay. Senator Hatchett, I'm sorry. I went the wrong way. [0:41:31] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Senator, how long did you work on this bill? Be honest, please. [0:41:36] I've worked on this for many months. Many months. [0:41:38] Several hours? [0:41:40] Uh. [0:41:42] Um, were you in any way present for orientation to become a new senator? [0:41:49] Uh, no, sir. We don't, uh, have that- [0:41:51] So you, you missed it? [0:41:52] I did. Yes, sir. [0:41:52] Hm. Interesting. Well, are you aware who the chairman of this committee is? [0:41:58] I am. Yes, sir. [0:41:59] Hm. Why did you ch- think that it was a good idea to have him sign number four on this bill? [0:42:08] Well, in retrospect, that should've been a ... There was a oversight from my standpoint. And, uh, I, I w- I can guarantee you I wouldn't do that again. [0:42:14] Hm. [0:42:17] If this bill passes, are you prepared for the rest of your political career to be known as the attendance guy? [0:42:26] I will welcome that opportunity. [0:42:27] Hm. I may have some more questions, Mr. Chairman, but I'll, uh, I'll, I'll pass on it. I'll, I'll, I'll keep reading the bill. [0:42:37] Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Yes, yes, ma'am, number four. [0:42:43] Uh- [0:42:43] Senator James. [0:42:44] Yeah. Thank you very much. Uh, Senator, uh, can you please define chronic, uh, absenteeism? How, what percent? You know, what, what exactly ... Chronic is what, 10 times five? Can you give me ... [0:43:02] Well, as, as far as from the state's standpoint, it's a, at 10%. If you miss, um, the first five days of school within the first 50 days, that's 10%. Or if it's 10% during the school year itself. School year right now I believe is 180 days. So if you, um, during that time period, if it's, if it's 18 days or more, that's considered chronic absenteeism. [0:43:20] Thank you. [0:43:20] And this is unexcused, by the way. [0:43:21] And, and- [0:43:21] This is unexcused [0:43:22] ... uh, is it de- defined any in your, uh, bill? I couldn't find it. [0:43:27] Uh, yes, ma'am, I believe so. Um, I can see if I can pull the reference on that real quick and give you a line number on there. [0:43:36] Thank you. Please. [0:43:38] Yes, ma'am. It'd be, uh, start to line 46, Senator. [0:43:41] Mm-hmm. [0:43:41] Um, and it goes through line 46 through 50. [0:43:45] Okay. I'm looking for it. Will you also, uh, tell me if this has anything to do with, uh, the students being absent chronically? [0:43:58] So we wanted to make sure, with this bill, we wanted to make sure this is chronically unexcused absences. [0:44:03] Mm. [0:44:03] And so we, we allowed the school system to define that differently. You know, every school when they take, um, take attendance every day, they can classify a student is either excused or unexcused. So this is only unexcused absences from that standpoint. And for this bill, you know, we, what we've talked about and what we looked at is we did not want this to be a, a large, uh, statewide governing body. We wanted to push the control down to the, the school districts and the schools themselves- [0:44:26] Mm [0:44:26] ... because we know that every county and every school district in the state is different. And so we want them to kind of define what those terms are, and that's why we looked at this, uh, Senator, as a multi-tiered approach. We wanted to give them the local control there, uh, because we do know that, uh, you know, as example, what we have, say, in Cherokee County, uh, it may be different from what they have in Bulloch County. And we wanna make sure that we give every school district and every county that choice to make those determinations. [0:44:49] Okay. I just wanted to know because I know in one of the counties that I represent, uh, they have truancy laws too, and that has to do with, uh, being late as well. [0:45:01] It does. [0:45:01] Not just- [0:45:01] Yes, ma'am [0:45:02] ... yeah. [0:45:02] And, and part of the intervention plan is we wanna make sure that, uh, since the parent or guardian has to be, uh, involved that as well, we know that every situation is different for every, every student. You know, they may be, they may be having to work a job to help support their family. There may be other issues going on with that, so we wanna make sure that when this intervention plan, uh, becomes available, a- and it's each one of those intervention plans are tailored specifically for that student. It's not a one-size-fits-all, that I think we, we're all aware of that. So, uh, we, that's why we really pushed that down to the school. We wanna make sure we get the te- the, uh, the parent and the guardian standpoint, uh, and get the, the, the student's, uh, input as well. [0:45:37] Thank you. [0:45:37] Thank you very much. [0:45:38] Thank you, sir. [0:45:38] Thank you. [0:45:39] Uh, yes, ma'am. Uh, Senator Sims. [0:45:42] Thank you very much. And thank you so much for bringing this bill. Very much needed throughout the state. When there is consistency in attendance in the schools, um, there's consistency in learning in the academic setting. Um, it's unfortunate now that we spend seemingly quite a bit of time out of school. We've celebrated a lot of holidays these last few weeks. Uh, we've had Christmas break, now we're having winter break. [0:46:14] We've had, uh, President's holiday. We've had many breaks. Each one of those takes away from the learning continuum. Um, and some s- disciplines are so much more engaging than others, such as math. Uh, if you spend a lot of time away from the studies, the teacher has to go back and do what? Reteach, bring the children back to where they were, and that's difficult. [0:46:46] Here again, all children, uh, don't learn the same way at the same time, but chances are they will do so much better when they are sitting in that classroom focused with a teacher on getting their work. And this is what, um- We talked about during the s- the study on absenteeism, so I am so grateful that you brought this bill. I like it being tight and strict. Um, I know that there are some that believe that it should... [0:47:16] It's, it's too, too strict. But if we keep kicking the can down the road and acquiescing to everybody's, "Well, take that away and add this," it's not going to work. So thank you so very much for bringing this forward. [0:47:31] Yeah. [0:47:31] I appreciate it. [0:47:32] Yeah. Thank you, Senator. I appreciate that. [0:47:33] Thank you, Senator. Um, I believe it's Senator Dixon. [0:47:37] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Senator, is this your first bill? [0:47:40] It is. Yes, sir, Senator. [0:47:42] Oh, good. Good to know. Good to know for when this one comes to the floor, we need to mark this. Were you, uh... Did you have perfect attendance when you were in school K through 12? [0:47:50] No, I did not. [0:47:51] No? [0:47:51] Mm-mm. [0:47:52] Good deal. [0:47:52] But I do understand the importance of it from that standpoint. [0:47:54] Do you think it would be important for us to change the Senate rules, where we had some attendance policies with committee meetings? [0:48:00] Oh. [0:48:00] Even though this, this committee has always attended well. No, but seriously, this is important legislation. Uh, I was a part of the study committee, and, and thank you for bringing it forward. Um, it... You know, academics, of course, yes, students are gonna fall behind if they're not present. But then also, uh, this will help, uh, you know, if there's other problems at home or elsewhere with the student causing the absenteeism, we can get to the bottom of that and help students. I mean, I, I... Great bill. Thank you for bringing it forward. [0:48:26] Well, thank you. I appreciate the comment. [0:48:28] Uh, we, we, we have some people who want to speak, but I will make a comment. I read an article earlier this week that, um, Alabama and Mississippi, who we are looking at strongly for guidance on literacy, are now leading the nation in, um, chronic absenteeism being lower. 'Cause what we found out, not hard to figure out, as literacy goes up, chronic absenteeism goes down, 'cause kids wanna be in school. So let, let's, let's hear... Thank you, Senator. Let's hear from a couple of people that signed up. [0:48:59] Um, Mr. John Cousins, um, if you'd come up and intro- introduce yourself. You... We, we, we on a tight schedule, so, um, about two minutes at the most. [0:49:09] Okay. [0:49:09] Yeah. [0:49:10] Right here? [0:49:11] Yes. Yes, brother. [0:49:15] Uh, good aftern- Good afternoon, y'all. Uh, I'm John Cousins. I'm a student from DeKalb County. I'm here with some other students from other schools in DeKalb County. Uh, we just have a little concern with, like, the semantics of what is defined as an unexcused absence. So for background, we're pretty sure that the system of, like, a multi-tiered attendance thing, where you have the probation, mandatory meeting after a while, um, being barred from extracurriculars, somewhat exists in our district, possibly other districts, in the code of conduct already, and then there's many discrepancies on a school-to-school basis. [0:49:52] And we're, we're a bit concerned about the definition about unexcused being kind of, uh, not defined. So to give an anecdote, uh, one semester I had a dual enrollment for my first period, uh, in-person class for my second. The way our system counts it is that it wouldn't, uh... It would mark me absent unknown until I stepped foot into the school. I was marked present for second period, then I was marked present, and that absent unknown would go away. Every now and then, though, that system wouldn't work, and it would just leave an absent unexcused on my record, and it would be kind of hard... [0:50:26] It would be a difficult process in retrospect to get that changed. And the other people here are also gonna share. They have other situations where they're being marked unexcused when it should be excused, and it's hard to remedy, or they're being marked unexcused for one period, and that counts as an entire day of absence by the school rules. And so we just kinda wanna know when it's defining the five-day period, the 10% period, since there's already, like, discrepancies on a school-to-school and county basis, is this gonna, like, unilaterally, like, replace all of the systems that are there already? [0:50:58] Is it gonna, like, only apply to, um, code of conducts that don't have it? Is it just, like, for demographic purposes and it's a school-to-school kinda thing? We just wanna just make sure unexcused is defined more, uh... Well, just more transparently, just so that in these, like, weird mini situations, people don't get, like, accidentally punished because there's just a broad blanket statement for every single school, regardless of... Yeah. [0:51:25] Thank you. I think that would go back to the local school system. I mean, the bill, the bill do- does not address the local system. It, it just makes this mandatory for local systems to put these in, in existence, correct? [0:51:37] That is correct. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. [0:51:39] Yeah. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Um, next person is, I have a hard time. D-U, D-U-R-E-S-A-M- [0:51:48] Duresamin. [0:51:48] Yeah, there you go. Come on forward, please. Identify yourself and, um, and you got two minutes. [0:51:54] Okay. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and the committee, subcom- senate committee. My name is Duresamin, and I'm a student at DeKalb County- [0:52:01] Hold my phone closer to you. There you go. [0:52:04] Okay. Um, I'm not here to speak against... Oh. Okay, is this better? Um, I'm not speaking in favor or against the bill, but I do have some concerns. Um, my main concern is the lack of a clear definition of unexcused absences. Um, uh, is it, like, five days or five class periods? Um, I'm a dual enrollment student, and I only go to school for one class period, and if I cannot make it for some reason, I get marked absent in daily attendance, so I get marked absent for the entire day. [0:52:35] So I just want to, um, ask for a clear definition and, um, if how many class periods or, like, would be considered as chronic absences. Thank you. [0:52:47] Thank you. Thank you. Um, Fatima. And you gonna have to pronounce your name when you come forward, please. [0:53:02] Please introduce yourself [0:53:06] Hi, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Good afternoon [0:53:08] Can you speak a little bit louder, too, please? Okay [0:53:12] My name is Fatima, and I am a student in DeKalb County. So, um, I had a concern with this bill because, um, my main concern was tardies. So in my school, three tardies count as one unexcused absence, and getting tardies is honestly easier than it seems. 'Cause in the morning, you could be late because of traffic, and traffic is not guaranteed. [0:53:43] So you could be late because there's a lot of traffic on the way, and you could be marked tardy for first period. And then throughout the day, you would wanna use the restroom during transition, and the restrooms are usually really packed up during transition, so it's really easy to be late to class and be marked tardy. So all of these things just build up and increase my chronically unexcused absences, and that would just make me getting my license harder. [0:54:15] So that's, um, my concern that I would like to be considered. [0:54:19] Thank you. Thank you for your com-comments. Um, S-U-I-A? [0:54:27] Sonia. [0:54:28] Okay. Please come forward. [0:54:32] Come on down. [0:54:35] Hi. [0:54:35] And, and please identify yourself, please, ma'am. [0:54:38] Good afternoon. My name is Sonia. I am a DeKalb County student. I have few concern, um, regarding SB 50, oh, 513. Um, while we all agree that school attendance really, really matters, but trying to withhold driver's license for attendance will only push students away who may already be struggling with financial responsibility, family issue, struggling due to transportations, and other things. [0:55:11] Um, in my community and for me, driving is an essential part, it's, um, to get to school or work. I don't work, but s- I know some of my friends work, so that's a big issue. Removing the access could a- actually increase more absences rather than reducing it. For example, as other people here are also dual enrollment student, I'm also a dual enrollment student, and dual enrollment s-students actually don't get, like, a transportation. They don't do... The, the program doesn't provide any transportation, and it's completely fine. [0:55:44] Um, so for me, that's the only source for me to get to colleges, and that's what I'm telling that it's, that we need. And it will only put more burden to my family and their jobs, especially people who work night shifts. They have to wake up early to drop off their kids, and they're basically ruining their sleep, and I don't like that. So, yeah. [0:56:09] Thank you. [0:56:09] Thank you. [0:56:10] Thank- [0:56:10] Thank you so much [0:56:10] ... thank you for your comment. [0:56:11] Mr. Chair- [0:56:11] Yeah, yeah [0:56:11] ... if I could make one point on that. So, so this bill in no way, shape, or form changes the definition of an unexcused absence. That's all, all we're defining out is what's chronically unexcused student. So again, the, the, um, you know, an unexcused absence, that's all handled by each school itself and the school district itself. So I just wanna make that point, uh, point clear for this particular bill. [0:56:31] Yeah. Thank you, sir. Uh, we have one more comment. Mc- Macaya? Yes, ma'am. [0:56:37] Thank you, Chairman. [0:56:37] Oh, yeah. Fine. [0:56:38] Hello. Hello, y'all. Um, uh, it's nice to see all of you. Uh, this is my first time seeing you this session. My name's Macaya Arciaga. I'm the Georgia Advocacy Director for IDRA. We are a non- independent, non-partisan education policy and research nonprofit. Um, thank you all for taking comment from our students. They are from around De- uh, DeKalb County. Um, and I hope that that helped illustrate kind of why we do have some concerns about the local control aspect of this definition of unexcused absences. Um, again, you heard every school, even within a system, counts that a little bit differently, which could un- overwhelmingly and disparately impact different kids who may already be facing systemic barriers. [0:57:19] Um, we are not in opposition to this bill. We really, we fully support the spirit of the bill, and especially the adoption of this multi-tiered system. Um, I've shared some of my concerns already d- with Senator Dixon, Dickerson, sorry. Um, sorry. It's [0:57:34] It's, it's all very similar. [0:57:37] Um, uh, and I apologize I didn't get to talk to m-more of you sooner. Um, but we, we just have a few concerns, again, about clarifying some of the language around unexcused absences. We also wanted to raise, uh, some d-definitions around what tier two is going to be, um, that threshold for what at risk will be. Um, a multi-tiered s-approach is, is very appropriate for this situation, but, um, if we don't know what it means to be at risk and we don't have mechanisms necessarily in place to make sure that parents and students are adequately notified that they are considered at risk, um, we lose some of the efficacy of this kind of model. [0:58:14] And so, um, we were ho- we wanted to recommend clarifying that definition. Is that a, like, how many absences does a student end up being at risk? 'Cause there is a clear threshold for the chronically, uh, unexcused, but not for that middle ground area where they might be on the cusp, um, but not necessarily quite at that point yet. Um, another one we wanted to uplift, and I'm sorry I didn't get this to you sooner- [0:58:38] No [0:58:38] ... is, uh, the definition of non-compliance. Um, we recognize the value of these plans, uh, and, and the way in which they're trying to build accountability for young people and their families. Um, we just have some concerns about what non-compliance is going to be defined as. If a, if a plan has five key components that need to be met and a student meets three out of five of those, um, is that considered non-compliance? Uh, does that mean they will not be eligible for a license because they weren't able to meet certain points of a plan? Uh, and, um, and that kinda leads to the, the last bit, which is, uh, I, I really do wanna credit the amount of, uh- intention we can see in this bill, uh, including parent input in both the p- opportunity to participate in attendance review teams, as well as in the team, the report process. [0:59:27] Um, we would encourage a little more consideration just for what, what ac- what mechanisms parents have to dispute, um, or, uh, hold accountable. Say, this team is not meeting, I know that's set for monthly meetings. [0:59:43] Mm-hmm. [0:59:44] If, if for whatever reason a student and their family can't meet with this team on that schedule of a monthly meeting or whate- whatever it may be, and I know there's some flexibility for how often they can meet, um, that then means that this child is no longer to partic- able to participate in their extracurriculars, um, until that meeting. And so, uh, having some lever, uh, that parents can say, "Hey, we've tried to make this good faith effort. We've tried to set this meeting up. It hasn't happened. Can we have some sort of grace for our child who..." I mean, I don't know, I was a band geek, I think some of you know that. [1:00:16] Um- [1:00:17] Mm [1:00:17] ... missing two months in marching season is a big deal. Um, you miss, you can miss a lot in a, even a month if you're not able to go to rehearsals or go to practice. And so, um, ha- clarifying that, incorporating a little bit more, like, meaningful parent support for that. Um, and finally, uh, considering, uh, I, some of you mentioned Mississippi and Alabama. I, I wanna highlight that they paired their chronic absenteeism efforts and their literacy efforts with root cause analysis and support. So not only were they looking at how do we support reading and writing, how are we supporting families to participate in this, how are we, uh, getting kids to school, they were looking at why are kids not getting to school. [1:00:55] Uh, a deeper, not just this compliance driven sort of model, but is it a systemic barrier that is preventing them from getting to school? [1:01:03] Right. [1:01:03] Is it that, like, one of our students- [1:01:05] Thank you. Thank you. [1:01:06] Yeah. Thank you. [1:01:06] Thank you so much. I appreciate you so much, Senator Dixon, bringing this bill. I keep thinking about what we went through last year, and we heard that 21.7% of the kids in Georgia are chronically absent, which is 370,000 people, and when I dig down into our school system, Mr. Donaldson, Bulloch County, we got 22% of the county chronically absent. One school system, one school in our middle, William James, got 29% chronically absent. So I appreciate you so much bringing this bill. I would open the floor for a motion. [1:01:37] I just have a quick question. Yeah. Quick question? Yeah, quick question. Over. Which, what number are you? Six? Six. Okay. Yeah. Senator, wanna go. [1:01:44] So since this is his first bill, I just wanna make sure I'm hearing this correctly. How many days did you say were in a school year? [1:01:53] 180. [1:01:53] How about for those that do a four-day week? [1:01:56] Sir? [1:01:57] How about for those school districts that do a four-day week? [1:02:00] Oh, that's interesting. Well, um, and I, I can, all I can say is in Cherokee County, we, as far as I know, we don't have that. [1:02:07] We do in my district, so, uh- [1:02:09] Okay [1:02:09] ... are we basing this on a hour absentee or a daily absentee? [1:02:17] Oh. [1:02:18] Okay. Yeah. [1:02:18] Yeah, he's gonna talk. [1:02:18] So it is, it is, it is computed as daily when it... And what it is, is looking at the 10% threshold of whatever those number of days are. [1:02:25] Okay. I appreciate the response. [1:02:28] Since, since you know how many days, how, how many days the teachers have to attend school. [1:02:35] 190. [1:02:36] I was going, if, I, I was gonna say 194- [1:02:38] 190. 190 [1:02:38] ... is what I was thinking, so. [1:02:39] Senator Halpern. [1:02:41] I, um, really do appreciate this bill, and obviously we all are concerned with the, um, chronic absenteeism. I have one question that hasn't been touched by anybody else yet, and that really is the part around, um, the driver's license piece. And I have a l- little bit of heartburn on that, only because years ago, we really, in some of the reform that we did, we, um, we decided to not touch non-driving offenses- [1:03:16] Mm-hmm [1:03:16] ... as being a, a reason why somebody couldn't get their license and do stuff, and this would be kind of putting that back into place, 'cause this is a non-driving offense. And for young people who do have to help their parents and get other kids to school or have jobs, I, I do have some heartburn around, really it's line 157, I think, in the bill, and 158, where we really are making their ability to drive, um, connected to this issue of, of a, of an intervention plan. [1:03:52] I love the idea of an intervention plan. I, I, I'm, I'm all in on everything else, but I do worry that we are reversing the position that we've been at historically on non-driving offenses. [1:04:06] Yeah. Thank you for the question, Senator. Um, so the way that the, the bill currently read is that the, um, that their driver's license, um, may not be issued, is not shall. So that's at the local, uh, that comes down to the local school itself, the school district, and the Georgia Department of Education to make that determination. So it's not an absolute. It's not that it's gonna be su- it's, um, the, they're not gonna get their license in any situation. That is at the determination of the school based upon that, their absenteeism, uh, and that intervention plan. They can make that own determination locally. [1:04:38] But I think in 148, if I'm reading it right, it does say shall, not may. And, and then we wouldn't be leaving it to the school, 'cause the school doesn't have any- [1:04:49] The department shall [1:04:50] ... it w- right, decision-making on the license. [1:04:54] Okay, yeah. [1:04:55] Are schools now gonna be coordinating with DDS? [1:04:58] Yeah. So it's, it's the state board may send that information to the, um, Department of Driver Services. [1:05:04] Mm. Okay. [1:05:05] Yeah. W- [1:05:05] But where do you- [1:05:06] I can find you right behind. [1:05:06] We're gonna have to- [1:05:07] Give me just one second. [1:05:08] I'm, I'm sorry. We're gonna have to cut it off. We got people who gotta move. Um, so I'm looking for a motion on the bill. [1:05:16] Who was that? [1:05:17] I think it might have been down here. [1:05:18] Down here. [1:05:19] Yes. [1:05:19] Okay. So- [1:05:19] Well, we'll, we'll- [1:05:20] And second. [1:05:21] That's fine. [1:05:21] Okay. So- [1:05:23] Discussion? [1:05:24] Yes, ma'am. [1:05:25] Yeah. [1:05:25] Can you keep it quick? 'Cause we got- [1:05:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah. [1:05:27] We, we got people who gotta go. [1:05:28] Yeah, real quick. Um, I, I know there are some unreadiness about this particular, uh, issue that we haven't really had the time to fully dive into around the driver's license. I, I would like to know... I h- You know, the bill is doing some really good things, so I'm prepared to support it right now, but I do think that it's a misstep on the driver's license, potentially. Um, although we can have more conversation about what actually it does. Um, but for a couple of reasons stated by my colleague and, um, others, I, I don't, I really- [1:06:00] Okay [1:06:00] ... don't think that's the right way to go. I mean, but I don't wanna say it's- [1:06:04] I appreciate that. I appreciate that. [1:06:04] The bill, I think, does more good than harm. [1:06:07] Good. Right. [1:06:08] However, I do think that's a pretty big misstep, and I think we need to probably have some more conversations about, about that. I'd be very curious to know what else was presented to the study committee- [1:06:16] Okay [1:06:16] ... as far as the root causes of chronic absenteeism, how they can be, um, addressed, and then what other carrots and sticks might actually be more appropriate than a driver's license situation. [1:06:26] Okay. Very good. Thank you. We've got a motion and a second. Um, so all in favor of the bill, raise your right hand. [1:06:37] Very good, sir. [1:06:37] Yeah. [1:06:39] I think he's, uh, for your first, you did an excellent job. [1:06:43] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate that. [1:06:44] How many times you read the bill? [1:06:46] Probably about five. [1:06:48] A- a- and if I could, Mr. Chairman. [1:06:50] Yes, sir. [1:06:51] I'd just like to acknowledge the young people that came here today and presented, and say thank you for being here. You give us inspiration and hope for our educational system, that you're here, that you're d- taking part in civic efforts. [1:07:02] Honored. [1:07:03] And I just want to give you, give you a round of applause for being here. [1:07:12] Thank you. Um, just for the committee, we right now are set to have a committee meeting next Monday at 11:00, 11:00. Now, we could've did 7:00, but, but I didn't think y'all wanna do 7:00. Thank y'all. [1:07:26] Thank you. [1:07:28] Okay. [1:07:28] He loved it. [1:07:28] Super. [1:07:28] Yeah. [1:07:29] I know that.