Court Opinions

State Laws

US Code

US Constitution

Georgia Code - Education - Title 20, Section 20-2-182

Legal Research Home > Georgia Laws > Appeals and Errors > Georgia Code - Education - Title 20, Section 20-2-182

(a) The program weights, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay at least the beginning salaries of all teachers needed to provide essential classroom instruction in order to ensure a Quality Basic Education Program for all enrolled students, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.

(b) The program weights for the primary, primary grades early intervention, upper elementary, upper elementary grades early intervention, middle grades, and middle school programs, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay at least the beginning salaries of specialists qualified to teach art, music, foreign language, and physical education, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.

(c) The program weights for the kindergarten, kindergarten early intervention, primary, primary grades early intervention, upper elementary, upper elementary grades early intervention, middle grades, middle school, and alternative education programs and the program weights for the high school programs authorized pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-151, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay the beginning salaries for guidance counselors needed to provide essential guidance services to students and whose duties and responsibilities shall be established by the state board to require a minimum of five of the six full-time equivalent program count segments of the counseloŕs time to be spent counseling or advising students or parents.

(c.1) The program weights for the kindergarten and the kindergarten early intervention programs, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay the salaries for instructional aides.

(d) All program weights, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay the beginning salaries for technology specialists needed to provide essential technology services.

(e) The program weights for the high school programs authorized pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-151, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to provide teachers with a preparation period free of assigned students.

(f) Reserved.

(g) All program weights, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect sufficient funds to pay the cost of sick and personal leave for teachers, the employeŕs portion of costs for membership in the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia and health insurance programs authorized by law, the cost of essential instructional materials and equipment needed to operate effectively such instructional programs, and the cost of travel required of personnel in order to deliver educational services to enrolled students, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly.

(h) All program weights, when multiplied by the base amount, shall reflect, whenever they are revised pursuant to subsection (f) of Code Section 20-2-161, an amount of funds for the purpose of providing staff and professional development to certificated and classified personnel and local school board members which shall be at least equivalent to 1.5 percent of salaries of all certificated professional personnel used in the development of each respective program weight, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. Funds used for professional or staff development purposes may be used throughout the fiscal year, including days when students are not present at school, to meet professional or staff development needs in the order of priority determined by the local board of education within the comprehensive professional and staff development program plan approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to Code Section 20-2-232. Such professional and staff development program plan shall address deficiencies of certificated personnel as identified by evaluations required under Code Section 20-2-210. Where possible, professional and staff development funds shall be used for activities that enhance the skills of certificated personnel and directly relate to student achievement. Subsequent certificated personnel evaluations shall include an assessment of an employeés professional and staff development activities and their effect on identified deficiencies and student achievement. Funds for professional development purposes may be used for activities occurring at any time during the fiscal year outside of an employeés normal contract hours.

(i) The State Board of Education shall adopt for each instructional program authorized pursuant to Part 3 of this article and the middle school program provided for in Code Section 20-2-290 the maximum number of students which may be taught by a teacher in an instructional period. The State Board of Education shall provide for a system average maximum class size that shall not exceed the funding class size by more than 20 percent for mathematics, science, social studies, or language arts classes, unless specifically authorized by the State Board of Education. The system average maximum class size for kindergarten and grades one through three shall not exceed 20 percent over the funding ratio except for art, music, or physical education classes; provided, further, that the system average maximum class size for special education, gifted, and English for speakers of other languages classes shall be set by the State Board of Education. For each instructional program, the maximum number of students who may be taught by a teacher in an instructional period shall not exceed the system average maximum class size for the program by more than two students; provided, however, that a system average maximum class size which results in a fractional full-time equivalent shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number. For a period not to exceed seven years, beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, local school systems shall be allowed to exceed the maximum class sizes set forth in this subsection in a manner consistent with State Board of Education rules and subsection (k) of this Code section. The State Board of Education shall lower the current maximum class sizes set by state board rules in effect for the 1999-2000 school year, beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, by an amount so that, beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, State Board of Education rules are in compliance with this subsection. An aide may be used in programs to increase class size as allowed by State Board of Education rule and subsection (k) of this Code section, except that beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, an aide shall not be used to increase the maximum class size in kindergarten or grades one through three. The maximum class size for the kindergarten and primary grades programs is defined as the number of students in a physical classroom. Maximum class sizes that result in a fractional full-time equivalent shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number as needed. The middle school program shall use the teacher-student ratio of the middle grades program for the purpose of this subsection. The number of students taught by a teacher at any time after the first 15 school days of a school year may not exceed the maximum such number unless authorization for a specific larger number is requested of the state board, along with the educational justification for granting the requested exemption, and the state board has approved said request. The state board shall not reduce class sizes without the authorization of the General Assembly if this reduction necessitates added costs for facilities, personnel, and other program needs. Local boards of education may reduce class sizes, build additional facilities, and provide other resources at local cost if such actions are in the best interest of the local school systemś programs as determined by the local boards of education.

(j) In its report of the initial full-time equivalent program count required by subsection (a) of Code Section 20-2-160, each local school system shall report to the Department of Education the number of students in each class in each school as of the date of the initial enrollment count; for schools where students change classes during the school day, the local school system shall report the number of students in each class period. Each local school system shall also report to the Department of Education by March 15 of each school year the number of students in each class in each school as of the first Monday in March; for schools where students change classes during the school day, the local school system shall report the number of students in each class period.

(k) For the 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 school years, the maximum class sizes set by the State Board of Education for the 2002-2003 school year shall apply for grades four through 12. For the 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2005-2006, and 2006-2007 school years, the maximum class sizes set by the State Board of Education for the 2003-2004 school year shall apply to kindergarten and grades one through three, except that a kindergarten class may be increased to 20 students if a paraprofessional is present in addition to the certificated teacher. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, other provisions of this Code section shall apply. This subsection shall not be construed to repeal any other provision of this Code section or this chapter, or to apply to any period of time other than the four fiscal years beginning July 1, 2003, and ending June 30, 2007. This subsection shall be automatically repealed July 1, 2007.

Last modified: May 3, 2006