(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.
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.
ARTICLE 26 OBTAINING SCHOOL MEALS BY FALSE INFORMATION