Student Character Development Act; enact
Summary
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Subpart 2 of Part 1 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to compulsory attendance, so as to provide for public school students to be permitted to attend courses in religious moral instruction provided by a person or organization independently of a public school, subject to certain conditions; to provide for such conditions; to provide for students to receive academic credit for such courses; to require local education agencies to adopt certain policies; to prohibit students who participate in such courses from being counted as absent from school; to provide for responsibilities of the Department of Education; to provide for definitions; to provide for a short title; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
Bill status
died
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 27, 2025
Last action Apr 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
LC 49 2137/a
→
LC 49 2330S/hs
·
4 edits
MODERATE
This bill was amended to add new requirements for criminal background checks on instructors of religious courses, clarify student attendance rules, and provide immunity for school officials. The changes strengthen safety measures while maintaining the ability for students to attend religious instruction outside of regular school hours.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include new safety requirements and liability protections for school officials and students participating in released time courses.
REQUIREMENT
Added a requirement that local education agencies must conduct criminal records checks on individuals providing released time courses to students.
Changed the mandate from requiring all students to be excused for religious courses to allowing local education agencies to adopt policies permitting such excused attendance.
ENFORCEMENT
Added immunity protection for school officials and employees from civil liability if students are injured during transportation to or from religious courses.
DEFINITION
Reorganized subsections to clarify that students attending released time courses are not considered absent from school.
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
5
Key actions
1
Committee
2
Apr 4, 2025
Committee
House Withdrawn, Recommitted
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Introduced
House Hopper
lower
6 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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