House Bill 1215
The Georgia House approved GCSA’s 2022 charter bill with a vote of 113 to 45 on Thursday, Feb. 24. House Bill 1215 will be taken up in the Georgia Senate after Crossover Day, which occurs on Tuesday, March 14. Crossover Day is the day that bills have to gain approval by at least one legislative chamber to be considered by the other body during the 2022 legislative session.
House Bill 1215 is sponsored by state Rep. Brad Thomas. The charter legislation does four things:
1) it refines the state’s charter school definition to better distinguish charter schools from charter systems, College and Career Academies and other school choice models in the state;
2) it prevents local districts from prohibiting students from transferring to charter schools during the school year;
3) it closes a loophole in the funding calculation for local charter schools by basing funding on collected (versus budgeted) local revenue.
4) it removes the performance audit requirement for virtual state charter schools
State Facility Grant Appropriation
GCSA has strongly advocated for full funding of the Charter School Facility Grant appropriation in the state’s FY23 budget. If lawmakers vote to fully fund the Facility Grant, every eligible charter school in Georgia would receive $100,000.
