Senate committee advances bill to join interstate compact for school psychologists

House Bill 81 (LC 610036) — sponsored in the House by Representative Ballard and presented to the Senate committee — was advanced after committee members voted to pass the measure. The bill would enter Georgia into the Interstate Compact of School Psychologists, an agreement developed with the Council of State Governments, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Association of School Psychologists to ease certification portability for qualifying school psychologists across member states.

The measure’s sponsor, Representative Ballard, told the committee the compact "reduces barriers to certification" and "will ensure that only qualified professionals are authorized to provide services to our children." Ballard said the compact aligns with priorities the committee named earlier in the session: school safety and literacy, and emphasized that school psychologists…