House Education Committee, March 19, 2026

Transcript

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1. 0:09:08

   Good morning, everyone. Let me give you our posture at this moment as we have just finished session. We're waiting on the members to come out of the, the, uh, chamber, and I'm sure grab them a quick snack and come in here. As soon as we get a quorum, we'll, uh, go to work. So it, it, we'll just stand just for a moment till we can get a quorum in here. So we'll stand, uh, waiting on that.

2. 0:12:26

   Take your spot, Carmen.

3. 0:12:28

   Right there.

4. 0:12:29

   That's right.

5. 0:12:30

   All right. I think we finally have a, a quorum working in the room for us with the members, so let's see if we can kick off this, uh, meeting today of the full committee. Um, I see we have a presenter from the Senate here, too, so we're, we're ready to roll. Let me first welcome all visitors. Um, thank you for coming. Uh, educators, again, hold your hand up. Let us recognize you members. Thank you, educators, for what you do.

6. 0:13:00

   Daily heroes, so proud of what our educators do in our schools and the work that you perform every day. I don't know if you paid any attention to our se- session, but we, uh, we recognized quite a few groups today, and I thought about you educators every time we were recognizing these people in the sense of we're calling them heroes, that y- y- you're truly my hero, and what you do in the classroom for those children means so much to the state. Uh, let me work down the roo- down here.

7. 0:13:33

   Uh, r- uh, Chairman, do you mind opening us in a, in a word of prayer?

8. 0:13:37

   Yeah, Mr. Chairman.

9. 0:13:41

   Lord God, I just thank you for this day. Lord, I thank you for life and the opportunity to be here to serve the people of Georgia. Lord, I, I thank you for each person that's represented in this room. Lord, just give us wisdom and guidance today as we make decisions for the families and the students in this state. Give us traveling mercies as we all leave this place, and allow us to come back and finish this session strong. We ask all these things in the name of Christ. Amen. Amen.

10. 0:14:05

    Thank you, Chairman. Good job there. Um, I had a request, Senator, um, uh, uh, by your, uh, peer to go first, but he's not in the room. So by the way, I was gonna let you two kind of battle it out. But, uh, uh, you are here. Let, let's open up. Uh, Senator Steil, if you would come up here to the podium. I'll get you the mic. We'll open up with the Charter Schools Act of 1998, completion schools, Senate Bill 369.

11. 0:14:36

    If you would, read your LC number. And I believe there was a sub there, so, uh, as soon as you do that, I'll turn the microphone over to you.

12. 0:14:47

    Sure. Thank you. Uh, the LC I've got is 492804S. Is that what y'all have?

13. 0:14:52

    Uh-huh. That's good. Staff's good. Got you set up. Mike Cheokas.

14. 0:14:57

    Thank you, Chairman. Committee, good to see y'all again. Uh, we presented this bill, um, just a few days ago. And, uh, the only change that was made, and this was at the request of, uh, the pro tem, was the language that you see starting on line 27, that we're gonna put the, uh, State Board of Education is gonna establish the definition and rules for this program, that they're the overarching, uh, body on this. Um, this bill, again, just as a refresher, is a combination of, uh, a couple of House bills that, uh, that we affectionately refer to as the USS Charter Schools, uh, boat.

15. 0:15:35

    And so, um, it started off as Senate Bill 369, but then, uh, a, um, a, a growth of, uh, bipartisan effort in the charter school space. I can walk y'all through the bill, um, but the only language that's different, uh, from what we added before is, uh, 27 through 48, um, and, and just, uh, clarifying that, um, for the first section. But as it goes through everything else, virtual sports, section 2 used to be House Bill 1218, um, tool, that was Representative Flournoy's bill, and, uh, allows for kids to participate in extracurriculars.

16. 0:16:16

    Um, that continues on to page eight. Uh, section 3 gets into 1206, which was Chairman Jones's bill, the other Jones, Todd. And, uh, section 4 goes back to the original SB369. Section 5 is original SB369. Section 6, just renumbering from 369. And section 7 is House Bill 1257. Happy to take any questions, uh, for those of you that are maybe seeing this for the first time.

17. 0:16:50

    But, um, I think this is one that is probably one of the most beautiful bipartisan bills that, uh, that we'll see this year.

18. 0:16:57

    Thank you. Thank you, Senator, and, uh, good bill. Thank you for the additions on line 27 through 48 there since the subcommittee work that we did on this. You do have a couple of questions. Let's start with number 25.

19. 0:17:17

    Thank you, Senator. I just want to say I appreciate your collaborative work, and, um, and being flexible with this bill and presenting this, and, uh, this is a great piece of legislation, and I do really appreciate your work and at the appropriate time.

20. 0:17:32

    Thank you.

21. 0:17:33

    Thank you. Representative number 15. Who is 15?

22. 0:17:37

    That's me.

23. 0:17:38

    Representative Lupton.

24. 0:17:38

    Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Um, I was speaking to somebody about this on the way over, so I just want to make sure I understand. the sect- there's no section that allows a charter school to change what it is, right? To s- say, "I'm this kind of charter school, now I'm going to convert myself to this kind of charter school."

25. 0:17:56

    So this bill started off as, um, specifically a dropout recovery school.

26. 0:18:01

    Right, okay.

27. 0:18:02

    So, but that's still under the charter schools, which then the State Board of Education is still gonna establish the overarching rules to that.

28. 0:18:08

    Right.

29. 0:18:08

    So it's not changing anything other than that.

30. 0:18:10

    Okay. So what I understand is just to try to get some measurements, the, um, combi- uh, basically comparing apples to apples within the dropout charter school system.

31. 0:18:20

    Yes, ma'am.

32. 0:18:20

    Okay.

33. 0:18:20

    Yes, ma'am.

34. 0:18:20

    Thank you.

35. 0:18:21

    Great. We you have one more question too, number 14. Adeyina.

36. 0:18:28

    Thank you, Mr. Chair.

37. 0:18:30

    You too.

38. 0:18:30

    May I have it?

39. 0:18:31

    Yes.

40. 0:18:32

    Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hey, Senator Steele.

41. 0:18:35

    Good to see you.

42. 0:18:36

    You too. Uh, I had a question. Now, would this bill address, uh, resources for kids with di- disabilities, d- there being overcrowding issues?

43. 0:18:49

    I don't know that we're having that issue with charter schools specifically. So this, everything in this bill is only pertaining to charters. It's not getting into, uh, doesn't, doesn't address school population census or anything like that-

44. 0:19:02

    Okay

45. 0:19:02

    ... um, you know, as, as kids are choosing to enroll in those programs.

46. 0:19:05

    Okay, thank you.

47. 0:19:08

    All right. Seeing no more questions, uh, good bill here. Let's, uh, members, I think we have number 25 has a motion.

48. 0:19:18

    Yes, I'd like to make a motion on Senate Bill 369 due pass.

49. 0:19:23

    Second. We got a motion-

50. 0:19:25

    Yes

51. 0:19:25

    ... and a second. And seeing no further discussion, all in favor say aye.

52. 0:19:30

    Aye.

53. 0:19:31

    All opposed, light sign. Your bill passes. Thank you, Senator.

54. 0:19:35

    Thank you.

55. 0:19:35

    Appreciate you and your, your time, uh, uh, and your work, and your collaborative work with the House and here on your bill.

56. 0:19:43

    Happy to.

57. 0:19:43

    Who is gonna carry your bill in the House?

58. 0:19:45

    Jan Jones.

59. 0:19:47

    Who is?

60. 0:19:47

    Jan Jones.

61. 0:19:48

    Jan Jones.

62. 0:19:49

    Yeah.

63. 0:19:49

    Pro Tem Jones. Good.

64. 0:19:51

    You know, she's, uh, she's gonna go out on a high note and, uh, carry a- another great bill across the finish line.

65. 0:19:57

    Another great bill. That's exactly right. She's good.

66. 0:19:59

    Do y'all need me to filibuster and, and, and apologize for any other antics happening in the Senate right now? 'Cause I think we're, uh, ...

67. 0:20:07

    I know we're gonna say no to the Senate apology.

68. 0:20:11

    Amen.

69. 0:20:13

    Yeah, this is recorded.

70. 0:20:16

    Yeah.

71. 0:20:17

    Hey, good, good point down there, Representative. Uh, all right, Senator, thank you very much. Um, we will see if we can contact, uh, uh, Senator, uh, Dickerson, and to see if he could come in the room to present his bill.

72. 0:20:32

    He just texted that he was on his way. Let me, uh, let him know.

73. 0:20:37

    See, it looks like his staff back there getting a hold of him.

74. 0:20:40

    Yes, I believe somebody's trying to get a hold of him in the back. He said he'll be here just in a minute, so we'll pause until he enters the room, and we'll ... Members here, SB 513, I'll take, uh, uh, the liberty of using this minute, members. Uh, I'm gonna take SB 431 off, uh, for further work on that bill. And so we will not hear that bill on the agenda today.

75. 0:21:12

    So our last one will be 513 when that-

76. 0:21:16

    Mr. Chairman, he is in the elevator on the way up.

77. 0:21:18

    Great. Well, we'll just pause for a minute for him.

78. 0:21:24

    Can you handle this one?

79. 0:21:28

    Yeah, be careful. We need to get this one working here for 513. He did say he was on his way.

80. 0:21:55

    Hey, Senator, come here to the table here. We'll, uh, put you up. Way you were.

81. 0:22:00

    Oh, thank you, Chairman.

82. 0:22:01

    Senator Steele did a fabulous job before you, got his bill done very quickly and, uh, very appropriately. So what we've got is, uh, members, uh, Senate Bill 513. Senator, if you would read, uh, your LC number to us, and I'll turn the microphone over to you.

83. 0:22:23

    Okay. Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. We're working off LC610484S as in Sierra.

84. 0:22:29

    That's correct. We're in good shape. Microphone's yours.

85. 0:22:31

    Thank you, sir. Mr. Chairman, members of me- committee, thank you for allowing me to be here today. Uh, today we're gonna talk about Senate Bill 513. Uh, a- and this bill basically, uh, looks to advance a- and kind of work against the issue that we've seen as chronic absenteeism in our schools over the last several years. Uh, it's a pretty straightforward bill, pretty clean, pretty simple. Um, this bill requires that every local school district has at least one attendance review team. Uh, individual schools with chronic absenteeism rates of 15% or more must also have an attendance review team.

86. 0:23:02

    Uh, this legislation makes chronically absent students temporarily ineligible to participate in extracurricular and interscholastic activities. We've got, um, 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. And contrary to a lot of media reports, uh, this legislation does not suspend active driver's licenses or permits. Mr. Chair.

87. 0:23:29

    Great.

88. 0:23:29

    I'd be happy to answer any questions that, uh, you or the committee may have.

89. 0:23:32

    Perfect. Thank you, Senator, and, uh, good work on this bill. Let's start. You do have a few questions. Number 27, Representative Wade, that's you.

90. 0:23:43

    Thank you, sir. Thank you, Senator, for bringing this bill. Just clarification, um- Former school board member for many years, so we had lots of, um, discussions even at the board level regarding absenteeism, and our schools have, have had these. Are you aware of how many schools in our state do not have an existing, um, team that is addressing absenteeism in their local school? Uh, no, sir, I'm not aware of the exact number of schools. I do know that the con- the, uh, for the 2024-2025 school year, the chronic absenteeism rate statewide was 19.5%.

91. 0:24:18

    Okay. No, I, I completely agree with that. I just wanna make sure that I, I would believe that most schools have one, and I'm not certain that just having a team is necessarily, uh, the only, um, way to take, take a bite of this apple. The other question I have is, oftentimes, especially in middle school, um, s- well, even prior to m- middle school, elementary school, uh, but most extracurricular activities begin fifth, sixth grade. Um, if it's a parent that is the reason that the child is not attending school, how, how do you address the one thing that we kn- One of the things that we know that helps students actually complete school is having a balanced approach, which is athletic, um, and extracurricular activities.

92. 0:25:02

    And if a student is not attending school because the parent is derelict in their duty, is punishing the child with extra, uh, uh, Have you addressed that type of concern where the team can determine it's not the child's fault, it's the parent's fault, or guardian? Um, yes, sir, w- we, we think so. You know, the great thing about this legislation is, uh, it would push it down to the individual school districts and schools themselves. You know, we looked at this thing. Uh, th- this bill, uh, came off of, uh, Senate Bill 123 last year to kind of really start looking at that chronic absenteeism rate.

93. 0:25:36

    And, uh, you know, we, we had a study committee last year as well. We came up with 14 or 15 different items, uh, on that study committee. These were the top three or four that we kind of pulled out that we felt like that made a lot of sense. And one of the things we wanted to make sure of is that we weren't, um, really kind of overseeing this from the state level. We wanted this to be pushed down to local school districts, to each school itself, uh, because we know that every school system in every, in every county as well, they're unique. So what, what's, uh, you know, what applies to Cherokee may be different from, from Dooly County.

94. 0:26:06

    And so that's part of the, uh, the, the responsibility that we're pushing down to the school districts and the schools themselves, is we understand that, you know, we want them to, when they talk to the s- uh, student, and they talk to the parents, to understand what that issue is. And, uh, and we really leave it down to the school to have their own flexibility to, to define, is this an unexcused absence, or is it just a- an absence? Um, and so, uh, by empowering the schools individually to do that, uh, if it was at fault of the parent and not of the child, then the, the school still has the flexibility, uh, to make that determination.

95. 0:26:44

    Again, what we're looking at is unexcused absences, not just... And there's, there's a difference there, and we've kind of defined what those differences are. Hmm.

96. 0:26:54

    Okay. Okay. Thank you, Representative. Thank you, Senator. Um, gonna keep working around the room here. 21 next to me. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, thank you for bringing this bill. I wanna dig into Section 5 real quick, 'cause I, I think that, to your point earlier, that's gonna get a lot of attention. I, I've already made people upset taking away their cell phones. I get nervous taking away their driver's license now. Um, two questions as it relates to line 157, 158. What does a student have to do to be considered in pli- in compliance with their attendance intervention plan?

97. 0:27:29

    So how we've defined it currently in here is, is, um, that the student... O- once the, the school identifies that there's, um, a- an issue with chronic absenteeism, is they, what they do is they reach out to the student, they reach out to the, to the parent as well. Uh, and so whenever they've scheduled the dates, and they're saying that, yeah, they're gonna come in and, and review a- and be in attendance for that, um, intervention plan, then they somewhat come into compliance. So it's, we understand to where if their, let's just say their chronic absenteeism rate today is 14%.

98. 0:28:00

    We know that that's not gonna change overnight, right? I mean, it's gonna take some period of time to work that percentage back down below 10%. Uh, but the one thing that we wanna make sure of is in order to be compliant is that the, the student and the parent has come in and spoken to the school system. They have all looked over this, uh, the plan, and that the student has signed off on it. That then becomes, uh, in, in our eyes and the way that we've drafted it, that student then would become, would, uh, be in compliant of this plan at that time. Now, is there, uh... Can we have, uh, basically a second or a third?

99. 0:28:33

    If they're, if we've come up with that intervention plan, and then that student is not compliant with it at all, then we could have another intervention there to where the s- the, the, uh, the school could come back in and say, "Okay, look, let's have another sit-down again, 'cause now you're not being compliant with it." Hopefully that framed it up, Representative. Mm-hmm. And you've talked with Driver Services a- and they've kind of blessed this, and they have the capability to... So if I, if I'm a typical student who doesn't, who's not on a plan, uh, is there a box I've gotta check, or this doesn't even come up when I'm... No, sir, Mr. Representative. So if I've got a license right now, you're not taking away my license.

100. 0:29:06

     You're not... Is it, is it suspended? Is it a put a hold on it? So if you currently have a license now, there, a- and you, uh, wind up, um, being defined as chronic absenteeism, unexcused absenteeism, there's not gonna be a change to your driver's license. We're, we're not gonna revoke any, we're not gonna suspend any, we're not gonna hold any. It's just, um, if you ha- if you don't have your license yet, what we'll do is we will, if you are, uh, deemed chronically unexcused, um, then what we'll do is the Department of Driver Services will put a hold on that license until you've worked out and complied with your plan.

101. 0:29:39

     Uh, but again, we're not gonna revoke anybody's licenses. We understand that there are, uh, the different parts of the state do different things, and, uh, you know, again, you have rural parts o- of the, of the state, and you have more metropolitan areas of the state. And we understand that in some of these counties, uh, you know, these students, they're working part-time jobs to help supply, uh, a- and help feed their family. And so we wanna make sure that we're very cognizant of that fact. Uh, and so we, that's why we don't wanna take away their driver's license. Mm-hmm. Okay. Thank you. Yes, sir.

102. 0:30:08

     Going around the room, number one... Oh, let me cut mine on. Going on around the room. Number one?

103. 0:30:15

     Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, the question, I guess, uh, lines 56 through 59 gives examples. Are these just exam- I, I thought band was a credit course, or is it not a credit course? I don't, I don't, don't know. But do we need those examples in there?

104. 0:30:35

     Uh, we did define them just to give some clarification. Uh, and, um, uh, if you'll give me just a- the opportunity to kind of shed some light on that. So there are some, in regards to these extracurricular activities, let's just say that you, if you have a, um, a course, let's just, let's talk about band for a minute.

105. 0:30:52

     Mm-hmm.

106. 0:30:52

     If you, if you're taking a course that's during the normal school hours, and one of those is band, and, um, and you take that course to get cor- to get credit, um, then that's not gonna... If you are chronically unexcused, then you still go to that class. There is no issues with that whatsoever. But if you wind up, uh, wanting to participate in an after-hours activity that may involve the band, then you would not be allowed to do that under this program if you were not in compliant with your intervention plan.

107. 0:31:23

     And follow-up question. So i- in compliant means just that your parents and you came in, signed a s- form.

108. 0:31:28

     Correct.

109. 0:31:28

     It doesn't mean that you actually meet any goals, it just means you f- signed the form, right?

110. 0:31:32

     That is, the way that it's currently done is correct. Now, again, we understand by the time all this comes around, it may be, you may be at 12%. Uh, you know, as a chronic unexcused rate, maybe you were out for an entire week, um, and you deemed it wind up being 12%. Well, we know that the, the, um, what's deemed chronic absent, uh, right now is, is a 10% level. So, you know, in order to get that percentage back down, two things are gonna happen. Number one is you're gonna have to, um, have more school days, and number two is you're gonna have to be in school those school days-

111. 0:32:02

     Yeah

112. 0:32:02

     ... to get that back below 10%. So, um, that's the way that it's currently laid out. Again, there, this, this is a multi-tier plan.

113. 0:32:09

     Okay.

114. 0:32:10

     Uh, and, and think of the first one more or less as, I don't wanna say a warning, but that's basically kind of what it is, is, you know, if you're deemed chronically absent, uh, then we're gonna have you come in, have your parent come in. We're gonna set up the plan. We're gonna understand all the issues that may be playing into to why you've been, uh, unex- have, uh, a lot of unexcused absences. Um, and then as long as you sign off on the plan, then now you are in compliant because w- again, we know it's gonna take a little bit of time for you to work that down below 10%. But now, if you sign off on the plan and you're, you keep having unexcused absences, then there's gonna be another tier that comes around to basically say, "Okay, well look, we came up with an original plan.

115. 0:32:51

     You're not complying with that plan, and so now we're gonna have to readjust and look at this again."

116. 0:32:56

     Okay, thank you. A- I guess my only concern is that for some student, for, for some students that are in this situation, those extracurricular activities may be the only thing getting them to school in the first place, and that if we pull that away, you may have more kids dropping out because that one motivation to stay on the team, to stay in the sports, to stay in the band, to stay in the course is taken away. So that's the only-

117. 0:33:17

     Okay

118. 0:33:18

     ... that's probably my biggest concern, but thank you.

119. 0:33:19

     Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you.

120. 0:33:23

     Continuing around the room. Number 24?

121. 0:33:27

     Thanks, Mr., uh, Chair. Question for you. I appreciate you, Bill. Um, you, you s- when you started mentioning ext- extracurricular and things like that-

122. 0:33:35

     Mm-hmm

123. 0:33:35

     ... I kind of had a question for you.

124. 0:33:37

     Yes, sir.

125. 0:33:38

     Um, there's a difference in co-curricular and extracurricular activities. A co-curricular activity s- school would, would be such like an FBLA, um, FFA, HOSA, those kind of things, and they're part of the grade of the class they're taking during the day.

126. 0:33:59

     Mm-hmm.

127. 0:33:59

     And so if it hurt, would they be included, or it would be a friendly amendment to exclude co-curricular-

128. 0:34:08

     Okay

129. 0:34:08

     ... activities? 'Cause I would hate them to suffer academically too.

130. 0:34:14

     Right.

131. 0:34:15

     Just the way co-curricular is.

132. 0:34:17

     Right.

133. 0:34:17

     And then I think the way it's written, it says extracurricular, but some schools may infer co-curricular and get it mixed up, and that would hurt the kid.

134. 0:34:25

     Yeah, Representative, it's a, it's a great question, and we've actually gone back to ledge counsel with this a couple different times 'cause we've had some very similar questions. They feel like the way that they have it drafted it, it covers that from that standpoint. Um, again, if any class is deemed necessary for your academic, uh, grade scores, then those aren't gonna be affected by this. Um-

135. 0:34:43

     Or any activities, I guess.

136. 0:34:45

     Or any activities from that standpoint, yes, sir.

137. 0:34:46

     Because I, I, I'm just think especially FFA is probably one of the strongest, and FBLA, if they're in that class, or DECA, they'll, there's grades involved for those activities after school with speech contests-

138. 0:35:00

     Right

139. 0:35:00

     ... whatever they're doing, or making sure they show up to meetings, and-

140. 0:35:03

     Right

141. 0:35:03

     ... well, if they don't show up to meetings, they may be kicked out anyway. But-

142. 0:35:06

     Right

143. 0:35:06

     ... you, you know where I'm going with this.

144. 0:35:07

     I, and, and I do.

145. 0:35:08

     I just wanna make sure it's not a, a superintendent or principal's going, "Oh gosh, am I violating state law for allowing this kid just go to a hog show?"

146. 0:35:17

     Yeah.

147. 0:35:17

     And yet if you go to the hog show, you know, and...

148. 0:35:21

     Uh, understood.

149. 0:35:22

     You know what I mean.

150. 0:35:23

     I, I do, and I think, uh, again, I appreciate the question. I think it's very valid. We have asked ledge counsel this specific question a couple of times. Um, again, they feel like that they have it drafted correctly, uh, based upon that. And again, from my understanding a- and what we have expressed to them, uh, any class that was, uh, deemed part of your academic curriculum that, that would affect your grade point average, uh, would not be included in this section. So, uh, you would still be able to participate in those, uh, type programs from that standpoint. That, that's, that was the intent and the spirit o- of how we drafted it.

151. 0:35:54

     Now, one thing I will say, Committee, is, um, you know, based upon this is, um, we know that this is not a silver bullet. Uh, th- this is not gonna fix every single problem, every single issue that we've seen in every single school, uh, and we know that. And, and the way that we've drafted this is if we need to come back, um, uh, in '27 or '28 or '29 and make some, some tweaks and adjustments to it, then, then we're all available to do that. A- and that's kind of, uh, that was the thought process behind that. Uh, again, we came up with 14 or 15 different items on that study committee in the Senate. Uh, we felt like it was overburdensome and not really particularly needed, uh, to include all those items on there, and we just pulled out the thought- the, the top three or four that we thought that would be the most influential and be the most impactful.

152. 0:36:36

     Uh, because at the end of the day, what, what, what we do know, uh, is if they're not in school, they're not learning. A- and that, that is about as basic as we can get. So, uh, you know, we're looking at all different avenues, whether that's, uh, sticks or carrots, to try to figure out what, what's the correct motivation, uh, to be able to get them to be in school. 'Cause we, we know long-term, uh, the success of, um, the success of the student, the success of the, the county and our state and country as a whole is they, they have to be in school. Uh, and then, and then how do we continue as legislators to work through that process to make sure that that happens?

153. 0:37:08

     Uh, you know, since COVID, we've seen a large increase, um, pretty well a double rate increase, uh, of chronically unexcused absences, and it's just not coming back down. So, uh, and that's been literally six years now. So how do we continue to work through that process? We try to give it some time, uh, to facilitate, kind of work its way back out, but it just never has gotten back down below pre-COVID levels.

154. 0:37:28

     Mm.

155. 0:37:28

     Yeah, and I, I understand. I agree with you. Um, is Michael Walker here, leg council?

156. 0:37:34

     No.

157. 0:37:34

     Just to double-check. Only reason I'm saying that-

158. 0:37:36

     Okay

159. 0:37:37

     ... I would hate for something to snag you at the end since we're running out of time.

160. 0:37:39

     Right.

161. 0:37:40

     I think that's a bit easier just to do a clarification in there. Does not inclu-

162. 0:37:44

     Yep

163. 0:37:44

     ... clude co-curricular activities.

164. 0:37:46

     What I will, what I'll be happy to do is I'll be happy to reach out to leg council, or if the, uh, chair wants to do that, I'll, we, we can defer who wants to do that, um, just to get further clarification. But again, we, we've already asked twice, and we felt like based upon the spirit of as we had it written that they, they felt like they had it drafted correctly.

165. 0:38:03

     Let's do this while we have other discussion 'cause we've got quite a few lights lit up. We'll ask legislative council to just kinda look if that we could do something with co-curricular at the grade end if needed, and I would recommend-

166. 0:38:19

     Yeah, I would hurry

167. 0:38:19

     ... Representative Townsend-

168. 0:38:21

     Sir

169. 0:38:21

     ... that you go down there and meet-

170. 0:38:23

     Yes, sir. I'll be happy to

171. 0:38:23

     ... with her for a minute, and then you can have it-

172. 0:38:24

     That's fourth building that way

173. 0:38:25

     ... either way.

174. 0:38:26

     Uh, understood. Understood.

175. 0:38:27

     It's not just a friendly.

176. 0:38:28

     Yeah, no worries.

177. 0:38:29

     But we, we... I, I believe you'll have a few minutes to at least have a conversation on that before we make our decision. Let me go to number 27.

178. 0:38:38

     Hey. Thank you again, Chairman. And, um, I... Look, I appreciate the, the efforts behind your, your passion. Um, we all wanna see, um, absenteeism reduced, especially unexcused absenteeism. Um, had... Was there any debate and discussion regarding, um, potentially unintendedly incentivizing students that get their driver's license at 16 that now will want to drop out sooner or to make other choices, um, that...

179. 0:39:09

     Because again, I just think that, that, that I understand it. I mean, personally, my kids know that I have a bill that I've drafted that's in our house, that I don't want them driving until they're 18 and have a high school equivalency. That's a policy position I believe in. 16-year-olds don't die if they don't drive.

180. 0:39:27

     That's right.

181. 0:39:27

     That's just a personal thing 'cause I lost a friend in high school, and he did not, he shouldn't have been behind a wheel, period. And he was not drinking. He wasn't, he was just not prepared. He didn't know what he was doing. But do you not think that there's a potential in certain communities that that could be an unintended consequence? That if we're saying we're gonna take away this if you're unexcused, and you've had a chronic absenteeism through your m- late middle school and early high school, and it's more parent and guidance-driven in the home versus the actual child who's not fully cognitively developed, they see a car as a way out, and then that could hurt our graduation rates.

182. 0:40:05

     I, I have a legitimate concern about tying the driver's license as the punishment personally. I'm not gonna make a recommendation to change the bill. I'd be happy to work with you on a better stick. Um, I just think that that's a potential unintended consequence. Did y'all have any, did that ever come up in discussions?

183. 0:40:22

     We spoke about it just a little bit, but our, our stance on it was, um... A- a- and again, I kinda date myself a little bit. Uh, but, you know, back whenever I was in, uh, middle school and high school, I mean, the, the things that were really important to you were your, your sports and extracurricular activities and your driver's license. And that's, that's... So we kinda revolved and looked around those two items. Um, I, I think the stance we took, while it came up briefly, uh, the point that you brought up, we also know that if we need to go back and, and tweak this later, uh, we could get enough... W- what our goal was, uh, to be able to get enough data for one year to kinda look at it and see and then make some of those tweaks.

184. 0:40:56

     Um, I know that we actually changed the effective date, uh, just the other day. It was actually gonna be, um, it was actually gonna be January 1st, 2027, and now we've changed the effective date to be, uh, July the 1st of '27 to where it wouldn't interfere in the middle of a school year. Um, so that's gonna put our data off just a little bit.

185. 0:41:13

     Just a quick follow-up.

186. 0:41:15

     Sure.

187. 0:41:16

     Um, do, do you have any concerns that we're gonna have 180 different methods to track this for the data, and are you concerned about disparate impact where certain school systems are gonna take a harder stance and use that stick more often? And I... Look, I'm about local school board and, and all those things. Like I said, we had our own attendance structure where our sheriff, I mean, our community was involved. I j- I just want us to really think through this policy. Um, so that-

188. 0:41:43

     Yeah, so I mean, we, w- we've thought about that. And again, that's, um, that's part of the, uh, part of the benefit o- of pushing this back down to the local school systems themselves. You know, they make the determination. One, one of the, o- one of the thoughts that came up the other day, one of the questions that we had, uh, was, you know, how do you know if the s- 'cause it's up to the school to determine if it's- Uh, chronically unexcused or basically unexcused absence or, or an unexcused, or a regular absence. And so the, the, an, um, example that I said the other day was, let's just say in Cherokee County that every school, uh, was complying, hadn't, we had no issues, uh, anywhere.

189. 0:42:18

     And let's just say most schools were, their average was 7.5%. We're just taking a number. And then you had one school in Cherokee County that was 18%.

190. 0:42:28

     Mm.

191. 0:42:30

     Well, based upon the data that we're getting, we would, my first thought would be we need to go look at that one single school because are they, uh, unintentionally marking students as, uh, unex- um, unexcused absence instead of just a, uh, a regular absence? You know, 'cause th- this determination does go down to the schools themselves. So, uh, I, I... Then, you know, if we looked at that from, um, from a district level and we looked at that from a Department of Education level, then y- we could probably know, okay, we have one outlier school in this whole district. That just doesn't make a lot of sense. Why, why is that happening?

192. 0:43:00

     And we kind of go in there and look a little bit more. Is it because of the, of the student population that's there? Is it because of the area of the county that it's in? Um, or are they just not marking them correctly? Which is, which is a, a possibility from that standpoint. So, um, I, I think, you know, every, every school itself is gonna have that option to grade it as they, as they want to. Um, but, but I think overall, um, we may have some outliers, but I, but I think as we work through this process, again, over the next couple years as we continue to kind of tweak this some, I think we could probably take care of any of those minor issues or outliers that may come in, and that's the, the way that we've kind of viewed it.

193. 0:43:37

     Mm.

194. 0:43:39

     Let me, let me keep working around the room through the questions. Uh, number two.

195. 0:43:45

     Thank you, Chairman. Senator, I appreciate the bill and, um, just laud your, uh, efforts to chip away at chronic absenteeism. Um, similar to Leader Wade's, uh, concerns, hesitations around, uh, DDS-

196. 0:44:03

     Okay

197. 0:44:03

     ... uh, are they supportive of this bill?

198. 0:44:07

     Uh, they are from our understanding. Whenever the, all the times we've spoken with them, they are supportive of it, uh, from that standpoint.

199. 0:44:13

     And i- if you could shed a little bit more light in, in how those conversations went around the additional administrative burden that would be placed on DDS to maintain and verify eligibility. We've all gone through-

200. 0:44:29

     Mm

201. 0:44:30

     ... uh, and waited patiently for our numbers to be called, and-

202. 0:44:32

     Yeah

203. 0:44:33

     ... uh, this adds a whole nother layer of administrative burden on what is already a pretty, uh, administratively, like, intense process. And so-

204. 0:44:44

     Right

205. 0:44:44

     ... I, I'll just-

206. 0:44:45

     Yeah

207. 0:44:45

     ... provide a little bit more context around, uh, how those conversations went with, with DDS.

208. 0:44:51

     Yeah, a- and I appreciate the question. Um, so keep in mind, how this is gonna flow is information will flow from the schools and the school districts up to the Department of Education. So then it would be up to Department of Education's, um, discretion then to send that information to DDS. Um, so, which they already share some of that information now. So for us and the conversation we've had, it should not be overly burdensome, um, because again, that- that's gonna be at the discretion of the Department of Education. Um, and that's gonna have some discussion between the schools and the school districts themselves. So, uh, we think it's probably gonna be minimal.

209. 0:45:23

     Uh, obviously, the first year there may be, uh, a little bit more, uh, work, but, uh, again, how we drafted it, it really comes down to Department of Education more than anything else as to how much of that information do they wanna send over to the DDS. Uh, 'cause they already share some of that information now anyway.

210. 0:45:37

     Mm-hmm. And, and DDS ex- expressed a general level of, of comfort in that additional burden?

211. 0:45:45

     Well, uh, from their standpoint, when we talked to them, they were pretty well neutral on the situation.

212. 0:45:49

     Okay.

213. 0:45:49

     Um, because again, they already get some of that information now from the Department of Education.

214. 0:45:52

     Let, let me offer this. We, Ms. Lindsay is here from, uh-

215. 0:45:57

     Leslie

216. 0:45:57

     ... Leslie, from, uh, DDS, and it, let me allow her to just answer a couple of your questions that you have.

217. 0:46:05

     Okay. Uh, good morning. My name is, I mean, sorry, good afternoon. My name is Shavonda Leslie. I serve as the director of governmental affairs and communications for the Georgia Department of Driver Services. Um, while we understand the intent of the bill, uh, there are some concerns that, uh, we have shared. Our concerns is, uh, one, that this will cause customers to have some extra delays, um, um, and our team members will have to adj- address some of the concerns in reference to why a child will not be, uh, be able to get their learner's permit or their license when they come in to see us.

218. 0:46:41

     Unfortunately, the Department of Driver Services, as well as Department of Education, does not share information, um, as that's provided via documentation. When a customer comes in, they bring in their documentation, so it's up to the customer to get that information. Um, very similar to other pieces of legislation, once it's enacted, we will do a campaign to address the customers to make sure that they are informed about what they need. So what's, if this is to pass, we would advise customers that in advance as much as possible, but you do still face the risk of customers coming in unprepared without that documentation.

219. 0:47:16

     Um, and it would be at the liberty of the, uh, school systems as to what they will and will not provide that child. Um, and then last but not least, uh, this does kinda go in the face of, um, what past administration was trying to do in years past when we did, uh, criminal justice reform. Um, there was a Senate bill, I wanna say 101 or 1 or something like that, back in 2016, where we did away with non-driving offenses being related as to whether or not someone can get their driver's license.

220. 0:47:51

     Thank you, ma'am.

221. 0:47:55

     Let me do this, if I can, and thank you very much-

222. 0:47:58

     Welcome

223. 0:47:58

     ... for that information, uh, from DDS. Let me offer this, members, in, in light of your concern. Um, well, let's continue this talk. What I'm gonna do for the senator is we'll make this hearing only today in hopes that we can make the changes that we need to make so this bill can make a difference. Let me state that, uh, chronic absenteeism is a real issue, and we have to f- give the schools, uh, some tools to effectively improve the attendance of the students.

224. 0:48:38

     Um, and so we will, uh, we, we, we're very interested in this bill.

225. 0:48:44

     Okay.

226. 0:48:45

     I happen to have been around at a time where we had to produce the letters-

227. 0:48:49

     Right

228. 0:48:49

     ... if they were more than 10 days and less than 10 days for the children to take to go get their driver's license. In some kids, it was effective. At that time, school, uh, chronic absenteeism was about 10%, about half of what it is today.

229. 0:49:06

     That's right. That's right.

230. 0:49:07

     So, uh, I, I will state that. Um, I'm gonna allow one more question. She's been flashing, number 15- ... for a while, and then-

231. 0:49:17

     Thank you, Chair

232. 0:49:18

     ... I'll have discussion.

233. 0:49:19

     Yeah. My, my questions have been heard and answered at some point, but I, I also wanted to, um, thank the senator and also say that I, I just took a look at the, you know, there was a long list of recommendations coming out of the Senate Study Committee.

234. 0:49:32

     Mm-hmm.

235. 0:49:33

     Um, but to sort of give us all a pat on the back in that there, um, banning cell phones in high schools was also on that list, as well as, um, putting, doing hearing and vision screenings at a lot of different ages. And those are both things that we've accomplished already at the meeting, at least on our side. Um, so I, I do commend us for, at least we are moving in the right direction. So thank you for, um, for the bill.

236. 0:49:56

     Thank you.

237. 0:49:56

     And I wanted to just say, hey, yay.

238. 0:49:59

     All right. Um, Senator, we, uh, to be honest with you, I think truthfully a little bit of work here-

239. 0:50:07

     Okay

240. 0:50:07

     ... we could be very successful with this bill. So, um, with that, members, on this bill, I'm gonna allow y'all to work with the senator, if you would, and I would do that today so that we could have something back to us at our meeting Monday-

241. 0:50:25

     Right

242. 0:50:25

     ... that we are gonna have. And, uh, I think there's a few tweaks that have been announced here that can be done very easily and, and, uh, do exactly what you've been doing, and that's improving bills where they're effective out there. Let me then convert to this statement to you. I'm expecting a very active week next week. We all know about what deadlines create action. And with that, uh, we're gonna go to full committee only, not in subcommittee.

243. 0:50:58

     So we'll all sit in here together. I'm expecting, uh, a long meeting on Monday with quite a few items. I would also guard against you trying to take some of your bill language and attaching to another bill. I, I really appreciate what we just did. We're vetting bills very good. We're reading them. We're going through them. We're talking about them. We're not just trying to attach things. Um, so I just warn you against that, and the same thing with your bill.

244. 0:51:32

     If somebody is doing that, be sure that you have completely vetted the language that is wanting to be placed on your bill. Things do get moving quite quick starting Monday, if not already. So I, I think you've gotta really be willing to read and really be willing to listen so that then you can make a proper vote at what we need. I'm expecting, as I said, a long meeting on Monday. I'm already starting to build that agenda out of the bills.

245. 0:52:06

     There are still some work of this House we need to do. We need to look at study committees. We need to talk some of the stuff you've come to me in resolutions that you would like to see heard. And if some of that could be, "Hey, I'm planning on being back here next year, and I'm planning on this getting done." So I'm willing to do that for you in here. But, uh, that, that's kinda what we got. I do not plan a meeting late tomorrow afternoon.

246. 0:52:36

     Thank you.

247. 0:52:36

     We will hit a- Uh, uh, we, we will hit a, a long one on Monday. Um, I will watch the session again. We got bumped back a little bit today, and I appreciate you missing lunch for those of us that did and got this work done. So, uh, let's work with the senator. Let's get that accomplished. And y'all, let's have a safe evening. We are adjourned.

248. 0:53:01

     Cool.

249. 0:53:01

     Thank you.

250. 0:53:01

     Mr. Chairman, thank you.

251. 0:53:13

     Sorry.