As Georgia students soon head back to the classroom, a new law requires schools to take no more than three business days to enroll new students living in foster care.
Senate Bill 431, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May, attempts to provide stronger support to foster youth by mitigating disruptions caused by school transfers. A study cited in a 2023 federal report found that more than 30% of such students experience five or more school changes by the age of 18.
The educational interruptions can lead to disciplinary problems, poor academic achievement and failures to graduate high school. Getting children quickly into school, lawmakers said, can help bring a bit more stability to their frequently chaotic lives.
“This is a big issue for foster kids,” bill author Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick told The Imprint last year.
The new law builds on a 2025 school safety bill that attempted to streamline the enrollment process for foster children. While that bill addressed another major problem caused by frequent transfers — missing school records — it failed to establish clear enrollment timelines.
If a school fails to comply with the three business day enrollment requirement mandated by the new legislation, the school must provide guardians with contact information for regional and state education officials to remedy the matter. The Department of Education can initiate corrective action plans when schools don’t comply.
At a Senate committee meeting last August, several foster youth testified before lawmakers about school-related challenges that underscored the need for reforms.
Kyra Stoute, now a student at Georgia State University, recounted being held back a grade in high school because her credits hadn’t been properly transferred.
Deven Rudy-Johnson, a coordinator for the foster youth advocacy group Georgia Empowerment, told lawmakers about another student who was unable to enroll in school for a month and a half after transferring from one county to another.
“These young people want to learn, they want to graduate, they want to go on and be successful,” Rudy-Johnson said Monday. “And the state has a responsibility to do everything it can to make sure they have that chance.”
