GA Code § 20-2-1160 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 20 - Education|Chapter 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education|Article 25 - School Law Tribunals; Appeals|§ 20-2-1160. Local Boards to Be Tribunals to Determine School Law Controversies; Appeals; Special Provisions for Disabled Children

  Every county, city, or other independent board of education shall constitute a tribunal for hearing and determining any matter of local controversy in reference to the construction or administration of the school law, with power to summon witnesses and take testimony if necessary. When such local board has made a decision, it shall be binding on the parties; provided, however, that the board shall notify the parties in writing of the decision and of their right to appeal the decision to the State Board of Education and shall clearly describe the procedure and requirements for such an appeal which are provided in subsection (b) of this Code section.   Any party aggrieved by a decision of the local board rendered on a contested issue after a hearing shall have the right to appeal therefrom to the State Board of Education. The appeal shall be in writing and shall distinctly set forth the question in dispute, the decision of the local board, and a concise statement of the reasons why the decision is complained of; and the party taking the appeal shall also file with the appeal a transcript of testimony certified as true and correct by the local school superintendent. The appeal shall be filed with the superintendent within 30 days of the decision of the local board, and within ten days thereafter it shall be the duty of the superintendent to transmit a copy of the appeal together with the transcript of evidence and proceedings, the decision of the local board, and other matters in the file relating to the appeal to the state board. The state board shall adopt regulations governing the procedure for hearings before the local board and proceedings before it. The state board may affirm, reverse, or remand the local board decision or may refer the matter to mediation.   Where an appeal is taken to the state board, the state board shall notify the parties in writing of its decision within 25 days after hearing thereon and of their right to appeal the decision to the superior court of the county wherein the local board of education is located and shall clearly describe the procedure and requirements for such an appeal which are provided in this subsection and in subsection (d) of this Code section. Any party aggrieved thereby may appeal to the superior court of the county wherein the local board of education is situated. Such appeal shall be filed in writing within 30 days after the decision of the state board. Within ten days after filing of such appeal, it shall be the duty of the State School Superintendent to transmit to the superior court a copy of the record and transcript sent up from the local board as well as the decision and any order of the state board, certified as true and correct.    (d) The following form shall be sufficient for an appeal:   "In re ________________ ____________________________________ __________________________ ____________________ hereby appeals to the ________________ from the decision of ____________________ rendered in the above-stated matter on __________________________________ . This ____ day of __________________ , ______ ."   Neither the state board nor the superior court shall consider any question in matters before the local board nor consider the matter de novo, and the review by the state board or the superior court shall be confined to the record. In the superior court, the appeal shall be determined by the judge sitting without a jury.   The procedures provided in subsections (a) through (e) of this Code section shall not be applicable to disabled children when a hearing is necessary to decide a complaint made under the federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. The state board shall promulgate by rules and regulations an impartial due process procedure for hearing and determining any matter of local controversy in reference to the construction or administration of the school law with respect to disabled children as such term is defined by the state board. Any tribunal which the state board shall empower to hear such cases shall have the power to summon witnesses and take testimony as such tribunal deems it necessary. In promulgating such rules and regulations, the state board shall consult with local boards of education and other local school officials in order to establish procedures required by this subsection which will coordinate, to the extent practicable, with the administrative practices of such local boards.   (Ga. L. 1919, p. 288, § 85; Code 1933, § 32-910; Ga. L. 1947, p. 1189, §§ 1, 3a; Ga. L. 1961, p. 39, § 1; Ga. L. 1969, p. 708, § 1; Ga. L. 1977, p. 875, § 1; Ga. L. 1980, p. 1508, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 216, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 20; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1279, § 13.1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, § 14; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 20; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1376, § 39/HB 502.)    The 2015 amendment,  effective July 1, 2015, added the last sentence in subsection (b).   Cross references.   - Administration of oaths in conducting investigations before school tribunals, § 20-2-111.   U.S. Code.   - The federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, referred to in subsection (f), is codified at 20 U.S.C. § 1411 et seq.   Law reviews.   - For annual survey of administrative law, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 17 (1986).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   ANALYSIS    General Consideration   Constitutionality   Proceedings Before Local Boards   Appeal to State Board   Judicial Proceedings    OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL   County board empowered to select, locate, and acquire school sites.   - County board of education has the authority and power to select, locate, and acquire sites for school buildings in the county, according to the boards judgment and discretion, subject only to the approval or disapproval by the State Board of Education upon appeal. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 117.   County board empowered to make changes and relocations in school sites.   - When a county board of education has previously selected sites for schools and school building projects, the board has the power to subsequently make changes and relocations of the sites, and when approved by the State Board of Education such action becomes final. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 117.   County board may provide that no school bus shall transport pupils to unassigned attendance area.   - Under the general regulatory powers granted county boards of education, a county board, when the board deems it to be in the best interest and for the most efficient operation of the schools of the county, may by regulations duly adopted provide that no school bus under the jurisdiction of the board shall transport pupils to any attendance area other than areas to which the bus has been assigned by the board. 1950-51 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 272.   Controversies related to "handicapped" children procedurally controlled by section.   - Controversies arising out of the construction and administration of laws pertaining to the education of "handicapped" children, just as controversies arising out of the construction and administration of school laws generally, are procedurally controlled with respect to hearings and appeals by this section. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-1 (decided under former Code 1933, § 32-910, prior to amendment by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1508, § 1, which added subsection (f)).   Federal handicap provisions accept as proper those procedures contained in this section to assure "due process."   - 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-1 (decided under former Code 1933, § 32-910, prior to amendment by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1508, § 1, which added subsection (f)).   Procedure of using "regional hearing officer" and eliminating administrative appeal unauthorized.   - Procedure of using a "regional hearing officer" to conduct a hearing under this section and to eliminate any appeal to the State Board of Education is not only unauthorized by law but is in conflict with the "due process" guarantees of this section. 1979 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 79-1 (decided under former Code 1933, § 32-910, prior to amendment by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1508, § 1, which added subsection (f)).   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, §§ 78 et seq., 246, 250.   C.J.S.   - 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, §§ 196, 211 et seq., 406 et seq.   ALR.    - Validity of statute or other regulations as to the use, or teaching, of foreign languages in schools, 7 A.L.R. 1695; 29 A.L.R. 1452.   Validity of regulation by public school authorities as to clothes or personal appearance of pupils, 14 A.L.R.3d 1201.   School's violation of parents' substantive due process rights due to their child's suspension or expulsion, 91 A.L.R.6th 365.