Georgia — school discipline
- The lines the state draws
- The thresholds themselves sit in the uncaptured code sections; what the rules state are the limits and the clocks around them. On the hearing: "Disciplinary hearings shall be held no later than ten school days after the beginning of the student's suspension unless the school system and parents or guardians mutually agree to an extension." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(k)1) On the youngest students, a stated ceiling: "No student in public preschool through third grade shall be expelled or suspended from school for more than five consecutive or cumulative days during a school year without first receiving a multi-tiered system of supports, such as response to intervention, unless such student possessed a weapon, illegal drugs, or other dangerous instrument or such student's behavior endangers the physical safety of other students or school personnel pursuant to O.C.G.A. 20-2-742". (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(l)) On setting: "It is the preferred policy of the board that disruptive students are placed in alternative education settings in lieu of being suspended or expelled." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(f)) And on what that setting is: "Each LEA shall provide an Alternative/Non-traditional Education Program/School to serve students in grades 6-12 with appropriate due process, who have been suspended from his or her regular classroom." (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(a))
The rule states the requirement for grades 6-12; what is provided to a suspended student below grade 6 is not stated in the sources reviewed. - Offices and appeal bodies in these sources
- The hearing and the first appeal are local; the second appeal is to the State Board. The rule's stated purpose is "to specify the procedures for appeals from local boards of education (LBOE) to the State Board of Education on issues respecting the administration or construction of school law." (r. 160-1-3-.04(1)) The local board's clock: "At the conclusion of the hearing, or within 15 days thereafter, the LBOE shall notify the parties of its decision in writing and shall notify the parties of their right to appeal the decision to the State Board of Education." (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)(a)6) The appeal is filed locally, not centrally: "The appeal to the State Board of Education shall be filed with the local school superintendent within 30 days of the decision in question." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(d)) The Department states the same in its own words and adds a warning: "The request for appeal should not be sent directly to the State Board of Education." Then: "The state board shall render its decision in a written order within 25 days after it hears the case and shall notify the parties in writing of its decision and of their right to appeal the decision to the Superior Court of the county wherein the LBOE is located." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(j)) On what the state cannot do, in the Department's own words: "Neither the State Board of Education, the State School Superintendent, nor the State Department of Education has the authority to mandate or direct hearings."
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources reviewed; the Department's own page on these procedures publishes no contact block. That absence is the finding. - Sources last checked
- Oct 11, 2026
Reproduced from the state's own rules quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.
This page assembles what Georgia publishes in its State Board rules about K-12 school discipline: who may remove a student and how, the notice and hearing the rules require, what continues during a removal, what record follows a student, and, because the rules assign much of the detail to each district's own code of conduct, a map of the questions answered only there. Georgia's vocabulary is worth carrying from the start. A hearing is held before a "disciplinary hearing officer, disciplinary panel, or disciplinary tribunal"; the body that hears the first appeal is the local board of education, which the rules abbreviate LBOE; a "Disciplinary Order" is defined in the rules as "any public or private school or school system order that imposes short-term suspension, long-term suspension, or expulsion upon a student in such school or system." (r. 160-4-8-.15(1)(b)) District codes of conduct carry procedural detail this page does not; the delegation map below points at exactly those questions. For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Georgia special education page. Confirm applicability with the district and the agencies. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.
The framework, as the state writes it
The code of conduct requirement (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(a)). "Each local board of education shall adopt policies designed to improve the student learning environment by improving student behavior and discipline. These policies shall provide for the development of age appropriate student codes of conduct that contain the following, at a minimum:" a list of twenty items, among them "Physical assault or battery of teachers, administrators or other school personnel", "Sexual harassment as defined pursuant to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 or physical assault or battery of other students", "Possession of a weapon, as provided for in O.C.G.A. § 16-11-127.1", "Bullying as defined in O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751.4", and "Any off-campus behavior of a student which could result in the student being criminally charged with a felony and which makes the student's continued presence at school a potential danger to persons or property at the school or which disrupts the educational process".
Removal from the classroom (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(e)). "Local board policies relating to student codes of conduct shall provide that each local superintendent shall fully support the authority of principals and teachers in the school system to remove a student from the classroom pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-738 , including establishing and disseminating procedures."
A teacher's report of repeated disruption (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(g)). "Local board policies shall require the filing of a report by a teacher documenting a student's violation of the student code of conduct which repeatedly or substantially interferes with the teacher's ability to communicate effectively with the students in his or her class or with the ability of such student's classmates to learn within one school day of the most recent occurrence of such behavior. The report shall be filed with the principal or principal's designee, shall not exceed one page, and shall describe the behavior."
Disciplinary hearings (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(k)). "Each local board of education shall observe Georgia law in developing and implementing disciplinary hearings held by a disciplinary hearing officer, disciplinary panel, or disciplinary tribunal pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751 through §20-2-759 including the ability to honor disciplinary orders of private schools and other public schools/school systems pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-751.2." The hearing officer, panel, or tribunal member is "an individual selected by the local school system" who is in good standing with the State Bar of Georgia, has experience as a teacher, counselor, or administrator, or is already serving under an existing contract, and each must complete a tribunal training course. (r. 160-4-8-.15(1)(j))
Protection for the youngest students (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(l)). Quoted in the docket: no more than five days of expulsion or suspension without a multi-tiered system of supports first, for a student in public preschool through third grade, unless the student possessed a weapon, illegal drugs, or a dangerous instrument, or endangered physical safety.
In-school suspension and alternative programs (r. 160-4-8-.12). "In-School Suspension program" is defined as "any program that serves the instructional needs of students who have been suspended from his/her regular classroom for a maximum of ten consecutive days." (r. 160-4-8-.12(1)(j)) The grades 6-12 alternative-program requirement is quoted in the docket; a district "may provide" the same for students who could otherwise remain in their regular classroom, and may provide it jointly with other districts or by contract with an educational management organization. (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(a)–(d))
Local hearing procedure before the local board (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)). "LBOEs shall hold hearings when required by law." Except as otherwise provided by law, the board must notify the parties of the time and place, sign and issue subpoenas, take testimony under oath subject to cross-examination, and have the testimony "transcribed by a court reporter or recorded by other appropriate means." "The strict rules of evidence prevailing in courts of law shall not be applicable to hearings before LBOEs."
The published process
- Notice of charges and the hearing right before long-term exclusion
- Before a disciplinary hearing, the local board procedures require notice of the time and place, sworn and cross-examined testimony, and a transcribed or recorded record. (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)(a)) At the hearing itself, held "no later than ten school days after the beginning of the student's suspension unless the school system and parents or guardians mutually agree to an extension", any teacher the school system calls as a witness "shall be given notice no later than three days prior to the hearing." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(k)1–2) Below the hearing threshold, a lesser disciplinary action still carries notice: "The principal or the principal's designee shall send written notification to the teacher and to the student's parents or guardians of the student support services being utilized or the disciplinary action taken within one school day and shall make a reasonable attempt to confirm receipt of such written notification by the student's parents or guardians. Written notification shall include information regarding how student's parents or guardians may contact the principal or principal's designee." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(h))
- Services during exclusion
- "It is the preferred policy of the board that disruptive students are placed in alternative education settings in lieu of being suspended or expelled." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(f)) The grades 6-12 alternative-program requirement and the young-student protection are quoted in the docket and framework above. For a student in an alternative or non-traditional education program, the rule requires that "Each LEA shall ensure that all Alternative/Non-traditional Education Programs/Schools provide counseling services to enable the student to make academic progress" and that the program provide "curriculum aligned to Georgia Performance Standards (GPS)." (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(f), (h))
- The record made, and the appeal route
- After the local hearing, "At the conclusion of the hearing, or within 15 days thereafter, the LBOE shall notify the parties of its decision in writing and shall notify the parties of their right to appeal the decision to the State Board of Education." (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)(a)6) An aggrieved party appeals "by filing the appeal in writing with the local school superintendent". The appeal must set forth the question in dispute, the local board's decision, and the reasons for the appeal, filed "within 30 days of the decision in question", with the complete hearing record and a certified transcript. (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(a), (b), (d)) The State Board "shall render its decision in a written order within 25 days after it hears the case and shall notify the parties in writing of its decision and of their right to appeal the decision to the Superior Court of the county wherein the LBOE is located." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(j))
- If the student has an IEP or Section 504 plan
- The disability layer (evaluation, the IEP team, manifestation determination, services during removal, and the dispute routes) lives on this site's Georgia special education page. The alternative-program rule itself states that every such program must "operate in full compliance with federal and state laws and State Board Rules governing special education students and students with special needs." (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(i))
The four rows above answer the questions an experienced advocate raises first, from the state's own rules, or record that a question is not answered in them.
Timelines, as stated in the sources
All quoted; none calculated. From r. 160-4-8-.15, r. 160-1-3-.04, and r. 160-4-8-.12, as retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
On the disciplinary hearing: "no later than ten school days after the beginning of the student's suspension unless the school system and parents or guardians mutually agree to an extension." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(k)1)
On notice to a teacher-witness: "no later than three days prior to the hearing." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(k)2)
On a teacher's report of repeated disruption: "within one school day of the most recent occurrence of such behavior", and the principal must respond to the parent "within one day of receiving such report". (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(g))
On notice of student support services or disciplinary action taken: "within one school day" (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(h))
On in-school suspension: "a maximum of ten consecutive days." (r. 160-4-8-.12(1)(j))
On the local board's written decision: "the conclusion of the hearing, or within 15 days thereafter" (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)(a)6)
On filing an appeal to the State Board: "within 30 days of the decision in question." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(d))
On transmitting the appeal to the State School Superintendent: "within 10 days after the filing of the appeal" (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(e))
On briefing: the appellant "shall file a brief with the state board discussing the party's position within 20 days of the date of docketing." "The opposing party shall have 40 days from the date of docketing to file a brief." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(g))
On requesting oral argument: "within 10 days of the date the appeal is docketed." (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(h))
On the State Board's decision: "within 25 days after it hears the case" (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(j))
On the young-student protection: no more than "five consecutive or cumulative days during a school year" without a multi-tiered system of supports first, absent the stated exceptions. (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(l))
What any of this means for a particular situation is for the agency and its processes to determine.
District delegation map
The rules write the frame and expressly hand the detail to each local board of education. Each entry below is a question a district's own code of conduct or policy answers, with the delegating text quoted. No district's code of conduct is captured or quoted here.
The student code of conduct itself. "Each local board of education shall adopt policies designed to improve the student learning environment by improving student behavior and discipline. These policies shall provide for the development of age appropriate student codes of conduct that contain the following, at a minimum:" the twenty-item list quoted in part in the framework above. (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(a))
Classroom-removal procedures. The local superintendent must "fully support the authority of principals and teachers in the school system to remove a student from the classroom pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-738 , including establishing and disseminating procedures." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(e))
Local board hearing procedures generally. "The LBOE shall adopt, except as otherwise provided for by law, the following hearing procedures:" the notice, subpoena, sworn-testimony, transcription, and evidentiary-rule provisions quoted in section 02 above are the state's floor; anything the local board adds is the district's own. (r. 160-1-3-.04(3)(a))
Who serves as a hearing officer, panel, or tribunal member, and their training. "Each local board of education shall approve Tribunal Training Provider(s)." "Each local board of education shall make available to all Qualified Student Discipline Hearing Officers and Disciplinary Tribunal or Panel Members the initial and on goingtribunal training course prior to the individual(s) serving in such capacity." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(i)–(j))
Whether the alternative program reaches beyond grades 6-12, and how it is structured. Beyond the required grades 6-12 program, "Each LEA may provide an Alternative/Non-traditional Education Program/School to serve students who are eligible to remain in his or her regular classroom but are more likely to succeed in a non-traditional educational setting." (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(b)) A district also "may provide an Alternative Education/Non-traditional Program/School jointly with one or more other LEAs" (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(c)) and "may contract with Educational Management Organizations to provide a Non-traditional/Alternative Education Program/School" (r. 160-4-8-.12(2)(d)).
Whether receipt of the code of conduct is acknowledged in writing. Districts "may solicit the signatures of students and parents or guardians in acknowledgment of the receipt of such student codes of conduct." (r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(b)) The rule does not require it.
Records access, as stated in the sources
Not stated in the sources reviewed (r. 160-4-8-.15, r. 160-1-3-.04, r. 160-4-8-.12, and the GaDOE formal-hearings page). The rules define a "Disciplinary Order" as "any public or private school or school system order that imposes short-term suspension, long-term suspension, or expulsion upon a student in such school or system" (r. 160-4-8-.15(1)(b)) and require that the appeal record include "a transcript of testimony certified as true and correct by the local school superintendent" (r. 160-1-3-.04(4)(b)), but none of the four sources states what a parent may access from a student's disciplinary record, who else may see it, or whether or how it may be expunged. Federal records rights under FERPA are federal and are not restated here.
Source map
| Document | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 160-4-8-.15 (Student Discipline) | rules.sos.ga.gov | page states current through rules filed through September 17, 2026; last amendment noted eff. Nov. 28, 2018; retrieved Oct 11, 2026 |
| Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 160-1-3-.04 (School Law Tribunals and Appeals) | rules.sos.ga.gov | page states current through rules filed through September 17, 2026; last amendment noted eff. June 15, 1998; retrieved Oct 11, 2026 |
| Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 160-4-8-.12 (Alternative/Non-Traditional Education Programs) | rules.sos.ga.gov | page states current through rules filed through September 17, 2026; retrieved Oct 11, 2026 |
| Procedures for Formal Hearings and Appeals to the State Board of Education | gadoe.org | no date published on the page; retrieved Oct 11, 2026 |
| O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-751 through 20-2-759, 20-2-738, 20-2-742, 20-2-1160 and the other sections the rules cite | cited in the rules above | no first-party publication located; see the change log |
| Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 160-4-8-.16 (Unsafe School Choice Option), cited by r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(a)20 | rules.sos.ga.gov | listed; capture pending |
| District student codes of conduct | each district, per r. 160-4-8-.15(2)(a) | never captured; the delegation map above points at them |
Change log
Sep 1, 2026 · Deepened to a full page (discipline-layer deepening pass). Re-captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/georgia-discipline.json: State Board rules 160-4-8-.15, 160-1-3-.04 and 160-4-8-.12 from rules.sos.ga.gov, and the Department's formal-hearings-and-appeals page from gadoe.org, unchanged in substance from the Aug 29, 2026 baseline capture (dates refreshed only). Built sections 01–02 (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, the timelines section, the district delegation map, and records access) from those same four sources; no additional source was needed to reach full depth, because the rules themselves — not the uncaptured O.C.G.A. sections — carry the notice, hearing, appeal, and delegation detail a parent needs. Findings recorded: (1) the twenty-item minimum code-of-conduct list, the classroom-removal delegation, and the tribunal-training-provider approval are each their own delegation clause, distinct from one another; (2) the local-board hearing procedure and the State Board appeal procedure are both fully timed in the rules and in the Department's own summary, which agree; (3) none of the four sources states what a parent may access from a student's disciplinary record or whether it may be expunged; (4) the alternative-program requirement is stated for grades 6-12, and what is provided to a suspended student below grade 6 is not stated in the sources reviewed; (5) no state office, telephone number, or email address for parents appears in any of the four sources, including the Department's own procedures page, which publishes no contact block. Not yet captured: r. 160-4-8-.16, and any first-party publication of the cited O.C.G.A. sections should one be located. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Aug 29, 2026 · Baseline page created (discipline-layer breadth sprint). Captured first-party under recipe tools/recipes/georgia-discipline.json: State Board rules 160-4-8-.15, 160-1-3-.04 and 160-4-8-.12 from rules.sos.ga.gov, and the Department's formal-hearings-and-appeals page from gadoe.org. Findings recorded: (1) Georgia is the first state in this layer whose education code could not be captured from the state itself — the General Assembly's site publishes bills, and its Legislation & Laws menu sends "Georgia Code" to a commercial portal (observed Aug 29, 2026), so the State Board's rules are the fullest first-party statement of student discipline the state publishes, and the code sections the rules cite are named here without being reproduced from any commercial reprint; (2) rules.sos.ga.gov is a Fastcase installation on the Secretary of State's domain that refuses a bare fetcher and serves a shell to a browser user-agent, its text arriving from a POST its own script makes — a session and a verb rather than client-side rendering, which is why the capture records a curl transport and the recipe carries the session fields added to tools/capture.py the same day; (3) the appeal route is fully stated in the rules and in the Department's own summary, and the two agree on the 30-day filing window, the local filing address, and the State Board as the second forum; (4) the alternative-program requirement is stated for grades 6-12, and what is provided to a suspended student below grade 6 is not stated in the sources reviewed; (5) no state office, telephone number, or email address for parents appears in any of the four sources, including the Department's own procedures page, which publishes no contact block; (6) a hyphenation artifact in r. 160-1-3-.04(2)(a) splits a word as "con- duct" in the state's published text and is preserved verbatim wherever that provision is quoted. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-29. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Oct 6, 2026 · Internet Archive captures recorded. Captures requested on 2026-09-06 by an automated capture pass and recorded this date; no human review is claimed for this entry. No quotation, date, finding or link above was changed by it. Each capture below was requested through Save Page Now and then confirmed to play back. Captures added: gadoe.org → https://web.archive.org/web/20260906125107/https://gadoe.org/state-board/formal-hearings-and-appeals/. Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.
Oct 11, 2026 · Rule pages' currency date updated (sources re-checked). All four sources were re-captured first-party on Oct 11, 2026 under recipe tools/recipes/georgia-discipline.json, with the transport, extractor and scope held steady. The three rule pages on rules.sos.ga.gov share a site-wide currency line, which now reads "Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 17, 2026"; it previously gave August 14, 2026. This page quotes that line in the docket and repeats its date in the source map, and both now carry the new date. This is a quotation the source now states in different words, not a change to any rule: every other quotation on this page, from all four sources, verifies against the Oct 11, 2026 capture unchanged, and no timeline, delegation clause, finding or link was changed. Sources last checked and the source map's retrieval dates now read Oct 11, 2026. Still not captured: r. 160-4-8-.16, and any first-party publication of the cited O.C.G.A. sections should one be located. Internet Archive captures: to be added. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter (review confirmed 2026-10-11). Corrections on the record in this log: hello@fieldassembly.net.