Georgia Special Needs Scholarship: Senate Bill 10

The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program is a scholarship program for special education students created by Senate Bill 10 (SB-10) during the 2007 Georgia State Legislature. This bill was signed into law on May 18, 2007 by Governor Perdue and goes into effect for the 2007-2008 school year.

Bremen City Schools will participate in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program. The following information is designed to help interested parents of a public school student who has a disability and an active Individual Education Plan (IEP) apply for the scholarship. Parents requesting a transfer to either private or another public school will be responsible for transportation to and from the school.

Eligibility Requirements

• The student has been a Georgia resident for at least the 12 preceding months

• The student has spent the prior school year attending a Georgia public school in any grade K-12 (Students enrolled in PK during the 2006-2007 school year are not eligible; only retained kindergartners are eligible)

• The student has an active Individual Education Plan (Students with a 504 Plan are NOT eligible)

Options Available for Students with Disabilities

• Transfer to an approved private school

• Transfer to another public school system*

*Transfer to another public school is dependent upon space and program services as identified in the student’s IEP

To apply for a transfer to either an approved private school or another public school system under the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program:

• Parent must file an “Intent to Participate” form and transfer request form available online to the Georgia Department of Education at: http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/sb10.aspx

September 10 Enrollment Deadline

• Students must be accepted and enrolled by September 10, 2007 to participate in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program for the 2007-2008 school year.

For your convenience, the Transfer Request Form is available below.

Georgia Public School to Public School Transfer Request for Special Needs Students Only

(O.C.G.A. § 20-2-313),

Parents: please complete this form and bring it to the appropriate school system’s school board office.

Parent Right to Choice

Under a 2007 state law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-313), parents whose students meet the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship

eligibility criteria (http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/sb10.asp) now have the right to request a public school transfer from:

• Their current public school to another public school within their district of residence;

• Their current public school system to another public school system; or

• Their current public school to one of the three state schools for the blind and deaf.

Public School System Responsibilities

Under the same state law (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-313) a school system may only deny a parental request for transfer based on

the lack of capacity and/or the lack of a program aligned with the student’s IEP. Capacity is defined two ways:

1) Capacity of the school building based on established health and safety provisions; and

2) Class-size capacity by grade and subject, based on state law and rule.

School systems must consider each and every parent request for a transfer.

Georgia Parent Transfer Request Form

Student Information

Date________________________________

Student’s Name__________________________________Grade__________Birthdate______________Age________

2007-2008

Name of Parent/Guardian/Other requesting transfer______________________________________________________

Home Address___________________________________________________________________________________

Street City State ZIP

Phone_________________________E-Mail____________________________________________________________

Name of Public School System (2006-2007)_____________________________________________________________

Public School Student Attended in 2006-2007____________________________________________________________

Request for transfer

I___________________________________ am requesting a transfer for ______________________________________

Parent/Guardian/Other Student’s Name

to attend_____________________________________ in the ___________________________________School System.

Name of Public or State School

______________________________________________________________

Parent/Guardian Signature Date

Georgia Public School to Public School Transfer Request for Special Needs Students Only

(O.C.G.A. § 20-2-313),

FOR SCHOOL SYSTEM USE ONLY

The ___________________________________School System received this request from the parent/guardian/other on

___________________________.

Date

After careful consideration, the transfer request is approved.

After careful consideration, the transfer request is denied based on school capacity.

After careful consideration, the transfer request is denied due to the lack of program alignment to the IEP.

_______________________________ ________________________________________

Name School System Representative Representative’s Signature

(Please print)