2021 Georgia Code
Title 20 - Education
Chapter 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education
Article 33 - Scholarship Program for Special Needs Students
§ 20-2-2117. Adoption and Promulgation of Rules; Immunity From Liability for Scholarship Decisions; Schools May Be Barred From Program Participation for Certain Actions

1. The board shall adopt rules to administer the program regarding eligibility and participation of participating 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. The department shall develop and utilize a compliance form for completion by participating schools. The department shall be authorized to require any pertinent information as it deems necessary from participating schools for the purpose of implementing the program. Participating schools shall be required to complete such forms and certify their accuracy.
2. The board shall adopt rules to administer the program regarding student eligibility, transparency, and awareness of the impact of the program, including, but not limited to, the following:
   1. The department shall conduct an annual survey of participating parents' satisfaction with the program, their satisfaction with the private school, and their likelihood of recommending the program. Survey results shall be collected using only numerical measures and made publicly available in the annual report provided for in Code Section 20-2-2118; and
   2. The department shall post on its publicly accessible website the basic unit cost for general instructional programs as a minimum estimate for scholarship amounts. The department shall provide parents of scholarship students the actual scholarship amounts upon appropriation of state funds to the department for disbursement. Within 30 calendar days of receipt of the actual scholarship amount, a parent of a scholarship student who believes that such student's program weights have been incorrectly reported by the local school system may make a request in writing to the department for a review of the accuracy of the local school system's reported program weights. The department shall provide a written response within 30 days of receipt of the parent's written request.
3. No liability shall arise on the part of the department or the state or of any local board of education based on the award or use of a scholarship awarded pursuant to this article.
4. The department may bar a 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.

(Code 1981, §20-2-2117, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 197, § 1/SB 10; Ga. L. 2008, p. 324, § 20/SB 455; Ga. L. 2021, p. 541, § 4/SB 47.)

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added subsection (b), and redesignated former subsections (b) and (c) as present subsections (c) and (d), respectively.