07 LC 33
1624
Senate
Bill 10
By:
Senators Johnson of the 1st, Rogers of the 21st, Weber of the 40th, Schaefer of
the 50th, Hill of the 32nd and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to elementary and secondary education, so as to enact the "Georgia Special Needs
Scholarship Act"; to provide for a short title; to define certain terms; to
provide for scholarships for public school students with disabilities to attend
eligible private schools; to provide for qualifications and criteria for the
scholarship program; to establish certain requirements for private schools that
participate in the scholarship program; to provide for the amount of scholarship
and method of payments; to authorize the State Board of Education to promulgate
certain rules; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date
and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary
and secondary education, is amended by adding at the end thereof a new article,
to be designated as Article 33, to read as follows:
"ARTICLE
33
20-2-2110.
This
article shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Special Needs
Scholarship Act.'
20-2-2111.
The
General Assembly finds that:
(1)
Students with disabilities have special needs that merit educational
alternatives which will allow students to learn in an appropriate setting and
manner;
(2)
Parents are best equipped to make decisions for their children, including the
educational setting that will best serve the interests and educational needs of
their children;
(3)
Children, parents, and families are the primary beneficiaries of the scholarship
program authorized in this article and any benefit to private schools, sectarian
or otherwise, is purely incidental;
(4)
The scholarship program established in this article is for the valid secular
purpose of tailoring a student´s education to that student´s specific
needs and enabling families to make genuine and independent private choices to
direct their resources to appropriate schools; and
(5)
Nothing in this article shall be construed as a basis for granting vouchers or
tuition tax credits for any other students, with or without
disabilities.
20-2-2112.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
"Board" means the State Board of Education.
(2)
"Department" means the Department of Education.
(3)
"Eligible private school" means any nonpublic school that provides education to
elementary or secondary students, has notified the department of its intention
to participate in the program, and complies with the department's
requirements.
(4)
"Parent" means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person
with legal authority to act on behalf of a child.
(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)
"Program" means the scholarship program established pursuant to this
article.
(7)
"Resident school system" means the public school system in which the student
would be enrolled based on his or her residence.
(8)
"Scholarship" means a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship awarded pursuant to this
article.
(9)
"Scholarship student" means a student who receives a scholarship pursuant to
this article.
20-2-2113.
(a)
Any parent of a public school student with a disability may request and receive
from the department a scholarship for the child to enroll in and attend an
eligible private school in accordance with this article.
(b)
To qualify for a scholarship:
(1)
The student´s parent shall reside within Georgia;
(2)
The student shall have one or more of the following disabilities:
(A)
Autism;
(B)
Deaf/blind;
(C)
Deaf/hard of hearing;
(D)
Emotional and behavioral disorder;
(E)
Intellectual disability;
(F)
Orthopedic impairment;
(G)
Other health impairment;
(H)
Specific learning disability;
(I)
Speech-language impairment;
(J)
Traumatic brain injury; or
(K)
Visual impairment;
(3)
The student shall have spent the prior school year in attendance at a Georgia
public school and shall have had an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
written by the school in accordance with federal and state laws and
regulations;
(4)
The parent shall have obtained acceptance for admission of the student to an
eligible private school; and
(5)
The parent shall have submitted an application for a scholarship to the public
school system no later than the deadline established by the department.
(c)
Upon acceptance of the scholarship, the parent assumes full financial
responsibility for the education of the scholarship student, including
transportation to and from the private school.
(d)
For a student who participates in the program whose parents request that the
student take the state-wide assessments pursuant to Code Section 20-2-281, the
resident school system shall make available to the student locations and times
to take all state-wide assessments.
(e)
Students enrolled in a school operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice are
not eligible for the scholarship.
(f)
The scholarship shall remain in force until the student returns to a public
school, graduates from high school, or reaches the age of 21. However, at any
time, the student´s parent may remove the student from the participating
school and place the student in another eligible private school.
(g)
Acceptance of a scholarship shall have the same effect as a parental refusal to
consent to services pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
20 U.S.C.A. Section 1400, et seq.
(f)
The creation of the program or the granting of a scholarship pursuant to this
article shall not be construed to imply that a public school did not provide a
free and appropriate public education for a student or constitute a waiver or
admission by the state.
20-2-2114.
(a)
To be eligible to enroll a scholarship student, an eligible private school
shall:
(1)
Have a physical location in Georgia where the scholarship students attend
classes and have direct contact with the school´s teachers;
(2)
Demonstrate fiscal soundness by submitting a financial information report for
the school that complies with uniform financial accounting standards established
by the department and conducted by a certified public accountant. The report
must confirm that the private school desiring to participate is insured and the
owner or owners have sufficient capital or credit to operate the school for the
upcoming school year serving the number of students anticipated with expected
revenues from tuition and other sources that may be reasonably expected. The
report shall be limited in scope to those records that are necessary for the
department to make a determination on fiscal soundness and to make payments to
schools for scholarships;
(3)
Comply with the antidiscrimination provisions of 42 U.S.C. Section
2000d;
(4)
Comply with all health and safety laws or codes that apply to private
schools;
(5)
Comply with all provisions of Code Section 20-2-690 and any other state law
applicable to private schools;
(6)
Regularly report to the parent on the student´s progress, including, but
not limited to, the results of any annual assessment given to the student, in
accordance with department guidelines; and
(7)
Annually provide to the parents the relevant credentials of the teachers who
will be teaching their students.
(b)
A home school operating under the provisions of Code Section 20-2-690 shall not
be eligible to enroll scholarship students.
(c)
Residential treatment facilities licensed or approved by the state shall not be
eligible to enroll scholarship students.
(d)
The creation of the program shall not be construed to expand the regulatory
authority of the state, its officers, or any public school system to impose any
additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those reasonably necessary to
enforce the requirements of this article.
(e)
A private school intending to enroll scholarship students shall submit an
application to the department by June 30 of the school year preceding the school
year in which it intends to enroll scholarship students. The notice shall
specify the grade levels and services that the private school has available for
students with disabilities who are participating in the scholarship program. A
private school intending to enroll scholarship students in the 2007-2008 school
year shall submit an application no later than June 30, 2007.
(f)
The board shall approve a private school´s application to enroll
scholarship students if the private school meets the eligibility requirements of
this article and complies with board rules established pursuant to Code Section
20-2-2116. The board shall make available to local school systems and the
public a list of eligible private schools.
20-2-2115.
(a)
The maximum scholarship granted a scholarship student pursuant to this article
shall be an amount equivalent to the costs of the educational program that would
have been provided for the student in the resident school system as calculated
under Code Section 20-2-161 and any federal funds received by the department for
special education services for the student, as determined by the
department.
(b)
The amount of the scholarship shall be the lesser of the amount calculated in
subsection (a) or the amount of the eligible private school´s tuition and
fees. The amount of any assessment fee required by the eligible private school
may be paid from the total amount of the scholarship.
(c)
Scholarship students shall be counted in the enrollment of their resident school
system. The funds needed to provide a scholarship shall be subtracted from the
allotment payable to the resident school system.
(d)
Each local school system shall report on July 1, September 1, December 1, and
February 1 of each year to the department the number of scholarship students in
the resident school system. Following each notification, the department shall
transfer from the state allotment to each school system the amount calculated
under Code Section 20-2-161 to a separate account for the scholarship program
for quarterly disbursement to the parents of scholarship students. When a
student enters the program, the department must receive all documentation
required for the student´s participation, including the private
school´s and student´s fee schedules at least 30 days before the first
quarterly scholarship payment is made for the student. The department may not
make any retroactive payments.
(e)
Upon proper documentation received by the department, the department shall make
scholarship payments to the parents of scholarship students in four equal
amounts on dates established by the department during each academic year in
which the scholarship is in force. The initial payment shall be made upon
evidence of admission to the eligible private school, and subsequent payments
shall be made on evidence of continued enrollment and attendance at the eligible
private school.
(f)
Payment to the parents must be made by individual warrant made payable to the
student´s parent and mailed by the department to the eligible private
school of the parent´s choice, and the parent shall restrictively endorse
the warrant to the eligible private school for deposit into the account of the
private school.
(g)
A person, on behalf of an eligible private school, may not accept a power of
attorney from a parent to sign a warrant, and a parent of a scholarship student
may not give a power of attorney designating a person, on behalf of an eligible
private school, as the parent´s attorney in fact.
(h)
If the eligible private school requires partial payment of tuition prior to the
start of the academic year to reserve space for students admitted to the school,
that partial payment may be paid by the department prior to the first quarterly
payment of the year in which the scholarship is awarded, up to a maximum of
$1,000.00, and deducted from subsequent scholarship payments. If a student
decides not to attend the eligible private school, the partial reservation
payment must be returned to the department by the private school. Only one
reservation payment per student may be made per year.
20-2-2116.
(a)
The board shall adopt rules to administer the program regarding eligibility and
participation of private schools, including, but not limited to, timelines that
will maximize student and public and private school participation, the
calculation and distribution of scholarships to eligible students and
participating schools, and the application and approval procedures for eligible
students and participating schools.
(b)
No liability shall arise on the part of the department or the state based on the
award or use of a scholarship awarded pursuant to this article.
(c)
The department may bar a private school from participation in the program if the
department determines that the school has intentionally and substantially
misrepresented information or failed to refund to the state any scholarship
overpayments in a timely manner."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval and shall apply to the 2007-2008 school year
and all school years subsequent thereto.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.