House education panel advances bill to centralize student records, create statewide threat-assessment structure

The Georgia House Education Committee on Thursday advanced House Bill 268, a wide-ranging school-safety measure that would require the transfer of a student’s academic and disciplinary records to a receiving school within five days of enrollment, establish statewide behavioral threat‑assessment systems and create a state-level repository for students deemed a safety concern.

Sponsor Representative Matt Persinger, who introduced the bill, told the committee the measure “codifies the definitions for a student's critical records and requires the transferring of students' entire academic and disciplinary record to be sent the receiving school system within 5 days.” The bill also conditions enrollment on a five‑day records timeline and authorizes a behavioral screening if records are not received.

Why it matters: supporters said the changes are a response to the school shooting in September 2024 that prompted statewide hearings, and that faster sharing of records plus formalized threat‑assessment teams could help identify students who need intervention. Opponents including civil‑rights groups, parents and some educators warned the bill, as written, risks privacy violations, over‑policing of marginalized students and inconsistent implementation across Georgia’s hundreds of local systems.

Key provisions - Records transfer and conditional enrollment: The bill requires a receiving school to request and receive a student’s “critical records” (academic and disciplinary) and sets a five‑day target for transmission. If the…