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Committee approves outdoor-learning pilot and removes physician requirement for AEDs in schools
Summary
The Education Committee passed Senate Bill 148 (LC3398823S), authorizing a pilot program for outdoor education spaces and removing a physician sign-off requirement for school automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Sponsors said funding would include private foundations, local funds and subject to appropriations.
The Education Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 148 (LC3398823S), a measure authorizing the State Department of Education to run a pilot for outdoor learning spaces and clarifying requirements for automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in K–12 schools.
Senator Pritzbill, the bill sponsor, said the pilot aims to test “best practices and design standards for outdoor learning spaces” and noted an amendment added in the Senate to increase teacher personal leave from three to five days. The sponsor said some schools already operate outdoor classrooms and the pilot would gather data to develop a blueprint for broader adoption.
Committee members pressed the sponsor on funding and scope. The sponsor said the bill anticipates a mixture of funding sources—state appropriation under consideration in the House budget, local funds and private foundation contributions; he named the Arthur and Turner family foundations as examples of potential private support and said the goal was to locate pilot sites statewide, including rural areas. "In a perfect world, I would love to see this in every school," the sponsor said, while acknowledging the pilot is subject to appropriations.
On the AED language change, Tara Bacolt of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta testified the substitute is a technical cleanup to last year’s AED expansion. She said AED manufacturers already provide physician oversight and that requiring each school to obtain a local physician sign-off has created an administrative barrier for elementary and smaller schools seeking to place defibrillators on site. "When they expanded that from high schools to all K–12 schools, this is now a significant number more looking for and the language was physician involvement, which led to questions on what that means," Bacolt said. She described the substitute as removing an unnecessary physician requirement so more schools can acquire AEDs and enroll in existing hospital-led support programs.
Committee members asked about curriculum and assessment for the pilot; the sponsor said curriculum would generally tie to existing standards (for example, life-science lessons linked to local ecosystems) and that local school boards selected for pilots would provide outcome data to the Department of Education to inform expansion. The sponsor estimated working with the Department on at least a dozen initial pilot sites but said final numbers depend on appropriations and local partnerships.
A motion to pass the bill was made and seconded; with no public speakers signed up, the committee voted and advanced the measure. Representative Sue Hong was identified as the House member who will carry the bill.
