# Georgia HB 268: Education; safety, health, and well-being of students and school communities; provide

Georgia HB 268, Education; safety, health, and well-being of students and school communities; provide, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Jon Burns (Republican), Chuck Efstration (Republican), Chris Erwin (Republican) and 3 others; status signed, last action 2025-04-28 (House Date Signed by Governor); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB268-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia HB 268
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Education; safety, health, and well-being of students and school communities; provide
- Status: signed
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-02-04
- Last action: 2025-04-28, House Date Signed by Governor
- Sponsors: Jon Burns (Republican), Chuck Efstration (Republican), Chris Erwin (Republican), Houston Gaines (Republican), Gerald Greene (Republican), Holt Persinger (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Education, Judiciary, General Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 4 (383 yes, 63 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 28

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- Children in state custody get faster enrollment: benefit, medium. Schools must immediately admit transferring students in juvenile justice or family services custody, even without enrollment records. Their previous school must send all records within 10 school business days. For covered children, receiving districts must request education records, special educati…
- Families get round-the-clock anonymous school reporting: benefit, medium. By July 1, 2026, public school governing bodies must run or contract for anonymous reporting programs. Programs must offer 24/7 support through a mobile app and multilingual crisis center, route reports to school teams, and coordinate crisis response. Schools must give students, families, and staff…
- Schools get panic alerts and emergency maps: benefit, medium. Subject to state funding, Georgia public schools must have mobile panic alerts and emergency maps by July 1, 2026. Alerts must connect with local emergency dispatch, including Next Generation 911, and use the school maps. Schools with functioning, compliant alert systems need no added capabilities.…
- Schools must plan for student threats: benefit, medium. By January 1, 2027, public school safety plans must address student behavioral health and include team-based threat assessment and management. Georgia's behavioral health department must approve the plans. Plans must also cover transportation, building entry and exit, and whether exterior and class…
- Schools strengthen suicide prevention and staff training: benefit, medium. Georgia public school boards and governing bodies must adopt student suicide prevention policies. They must consult school and community stakeholders, school mental health staff, and suicide prevention experts. Policies must cover prevention, intervention, and support after a suicide-related event.…
- Students get suicide and violence prevention training: benefit, medium. Starting in 2026–2027, state-funded public schools serving grades 6–12 must give students yearly suicide and violence prevention training. Each subject requires at least one hour; schools may teach in person, remotely, digitally, or through health and physical education. Violence training must teac…
- Families get faster access to school records: benefit, low. Schools must provide requested complete electronic student records by 5:00 p.m. on the third business day. Authorized requesters include parents, legal custodians, receiving schools, and others legally entitled to the records. If some records are not electronic, schools must send available electron…
- Parents can review and challenge transferred records: benefit, low. Schools cannot block parents or legal custodians from reviewing their own child's records; other students' information must stay private. Both parents generally have access unless a court removes a noncustodial parent's right or parental rights have ended. Receiving schools must give written notice…
- Parents get updated school involvement policies: benefit, low. Public school governing bodies must update parental involvement policies by June 1 each year and post them online. Parents must also be able to review a copy on-site upon request. Policies must explain how parents can review their minor child's records and request transfers to schools or authorized…
- Regional officers help resolve school record disputes: benefit, low. Each regional education agency must name a student affairs officer, and regional agencies may provide record-sharing dispute services. School requesters must promptly give written notice when sending schools claim release is unlawful or unduly burdensome, or records are wrongly withheld. Agencies o…
- Police must report threats to families: benefit, low. An officer's employer must send a written report within five days of a qualifying official encounter with a school-age youth. The encounter must involve credible information that the youth threatened death or serious injury to someone at or likely at school. Reports go to the parent or guardian and…
- More behavior support in high-needs schools: benefit, low. Elementary and middle schools with one-star or two-star climate ratings must provide positive behavior supports and early intervention programs. Basic supports must reach 100% of students and staff, with added supports for at-risk students. At least 95% of staff must receive two hours of approved s…
- School notices expand with privacy protections: benefit, low. After specified findings about serious offenses or discipline problems, administrators must tell assigned teachers they may review related confidential student information. Covered findings include chronic discipline notices, current behavior correction plans, and prohibited-act reports. The State…
- Schools get grants for student advocacy staff: benefit, low. Subject to state appropriations, grants reimburse beginning salaries and benefits for qualified student advocacy specialists. Systems with fewer than 18,000 full-time-equivalent students qualify for one specialist; those with 18,000–36,000 qualify for two. Systems above 36,000 qualify for three, an…
- Schools must clarify police record sharing: benefit, low. By October 1, 2025, school boards with officers in schools must add student-record rules to written agreements with law enforcement. Agreements must cover handling student records, data, and identifying information, including when sharing is allowed. They must state whether officers count as school…
- Families face stricter permanent school enrollment rules: cost, medium. For permanent enrollment above third grade, parents or legal custodians must disclose specified delinquency and discipline information. They must provide certified critical records from every school attended during the previous 24 months, or written confirmation of receipt. Records must be current…
- New criminal penalties for school threats: cost, medium. The law creates a school terroristic-threat offense covering threats of violence, hazardous releases, or burning or damaging property. It requires the specified purpose of causing school-related terror or evacuation, or reckless disregard of that risk. The offense is generally a misdemeanor; threat…
- New felony penalties for school attacks: cost, medium. The law creates a school terroristic-act felony covering specified weapon or flaming-symbol use, hazardous or simulated hazardous releases, and unlawful shooting at occupied or operating vehicles. The act must aim to terrorize someone in a covered school setting or cause evacuation of school proper…
- Parents face fines for defying record orders: cost, low. A court may order a parent or guardian to authorize a required student-record release after finding willful and unreasonable refusal. Willfully disobeying that order can bring a fine of up to $500. The fine requires notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
- School group threats carry criminal penalties: cost, low. Knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly threatening death or serious injury to a group counts as disrupting or interfering with school operations. The group must be at, or likely to be at, a public school, school bus, or bus stop. Verbal, written, and other threats are covered and carry the crimina…
- School maps face disclosure and lawsuit limits: cost, low. School mapping information sent to the state agency is exempt from public release within Georgia's public-records exemption. Covered school boards, school systems, public schools, local governments, and agencies are immune from damage claims involving map creation or use. Their employees have the s…
- School prevention training limits damage claims: cost, low. People cannot bring damage claims for acts or failures tied to implementing the school prevention-training section. The bar also covers losses caused by required training or lack of training. These training requirements do not create a specific legal duty of care.
- Placement education eligibility expands and narrows: mixed, medium. Free local education eligibility expressly includes specified human services and family services placements, including individualized treatment or service plans. The law removes the listed behavioral health department-operated or funded placements from these eligibility categories. Children must be…
- Schools assess threats and allow remote learning: mixed, medium. By January 1, 2027, public school safety plans must include behavioral threat assessment plans approved by the state behavioral health department. School discipline systems must authorize temporary remote learning, require counseling, and start an investigation after a credible accusation of a qual…
- Temporary school enrollment comes with new conditions: mixed, medium. Schools may provisionally enroll transferring students for up to 10 school days, starting the school day after required parent steps. Parents must provide disclosures, identify schools attended over the prior 24 months, and authorize immediate release of critical records. Missing records can lead t…
- School alerts expand with student safeguards: mixed, medium. Subject to funding, Georgia's emergency management agency must create public-school systems for emergency alerts and secure threat tracking. Emergency alerts share campus threats and response steps with local school systems; only designated school staff can access threat tracking. A student's name…
- Schools investigate unexplained student absences and withdrawals: mixed, low. Schools may contact parents, conduct home wellness visits, or make appropriate police referrals after withdrawals or stopped attendance without required paperwork. This includes missing transfer or home-study notice and, for students 16 or older, a missing required conference. After 30 consecutive…
- Serious youth offenses face court changes: mixed, low. Superior courts have exclusive initial jurisdiction over children ages 13–17 accused of attempted murder or a terroristic act upon a school. After indictment, the court can transfer these cases to juvenile court after reviewing required criteria. The law also expands a juvenile assault provision in…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Jon Burns (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Chuck Efstration (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Chris Erwin (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Houston Gaines (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Gerald Greene (Republican), House
- Sponsor: Holt Persinger (Republican), House
- Cosponsor: Bill Cowsert (Republican), Senate

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-03-31 | House | Agree to Senate Substitute | pass | 154 | 12 | 3 |
| 2025-03-31 | Senate | ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT #2 BY THE SENATOR FROM THE 41ST | fail | 25 | 29 |   |
| 2025-03-31 | Senate | PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE | pass | 45 | 9 |   |
| 2025-03-04 | House | PASSAGE | pass | 159 | 13 | 2 |

## Actions (16)

- 2025-04-28: House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- 2025-04-28: Act 17
- 2025-04-28: Effective Date
- 2025-04-09: House Sent to Governor (House)
- 2025-03-31: Senate Third Read (Senate)
- 2025-03-31: Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-03-31: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- 2025-03-28: Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- 2025-03-06: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-03-04: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-03-04: House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- 2025-03-03: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- 2025-02-06: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-02-05: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-02-04: House Hopper (House)

## Bill text

- HB 268/AP* (v14): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238529)

## Related bills

- SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed)
- SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed)
- SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed)
- SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed)
- HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed)
- HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed)

## Sources
- [HB 268/AP* (v14) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238529)

## Related
- [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026)
- [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026)
- [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026)
- [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026)
- [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026)
- [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB268-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).