Definitions

As used in this article, the term: (1) “Board” means the State Board of Education. (2) “Department” means the Department of Education. (3) “Parent” means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with legal authority to act on behalf of a child. 960 20-2-2112 ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUC. 20-2-2113 (4) “Participating school” means a private school that has notified the department of its intention to participate in the program, and that complies with the department’s requirements. (5) “Prior school year in attendance” means that the student was enrolled and reported by a public school system or school systems for funding purposes during the preceding October and March full-time equivalent (FTE) program counts in accordance with Code Section 20-2-160. (6) “Private school” means a nonpublic school, sectarian or nonsectarian, which is accredited or in the process of becoming accredited by one or more of the entities listed in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6) of Code Section 20-3-519. (7) “Program” means the scholarship program established pursuant to this article. (8) “Resident school system” means the public school system in which the student would be enrolled based on his or her residence. (9) “Scholarship” means a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship awarded pursuant to this article. (10) “Scholarship student” means a student who receives a scholarship pursuant to this article. History. Code 1981, § 20-2-2112, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 197, § 1/SB 10. 20-2-2113. Annual notification of options available to parents of special needs students. (a) The resident school system shall provide specific written notice of the options available under this article to the parent at the initial Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting in which a disability of the parent’s child is identified or at the time the child is determined to be eligible for accommodations or services under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Thereafter, the resident school system shall annually notify prior to the beginning of each school year the parent of a student with a disability by letter, electronic means, or by such other reasonable means in a timely manner of the options available to the parent under this article. (b)(1) The parent may choose for the student to attend another public school within the resident school system which has available space and which has a program with the services agreed to in the student’s existing Individualized Education Program or Section 504 Plan. If the parent chooses this option, then the parent shall be responsible for transportation to such school. The student may attend such public 961 20-2-2114 school pursuant to this paragraph until the student completes all grades of the school, graduates, or reaches the age of 21, whichever occurs first, in accordance with federal and state requirements for disabled students; (2) The parent may choose to enroll the student in and transport the student to a public school outside of the student’s resident school system which has available space and which has a program with the services agreed to in the student’s existing Individualized Education Program or Section 504 Plan. The nonresident public school system may accept the student, and if it does, such system shall report the student for purposes of funding to the department; (3) The parent may choose for the student to attend one of the state schools for the deaf and blind operated by the State Board of Education, if appropriate for the student’s needs. Funding for such students shall be provided in accordance with Code Section 20-2-302; or (4) The parent may request and receive from the department a scholarship for the student to enroll in and attend a participating private school in accordance with this article. History. Code 1981, § 20-2-2113, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 197, § 1/SB 10; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1312, § 1/HB 209; Ga. L. 2021, p. 541, § 1/SB 47. The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added “or at the time the child is determined to be eligible for accommodations or services under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973” at the end of the first sentence of subsection (a); substituted “Individualized Education Program or Section 504 Plan” for “individualized education program” at the end of the first sentence of paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2); and inserted “nonresident” near the beginning of the second sentence of paragraph (b)(2).