Legislation that overhauls Georgia’s criminal justice system also touches the state’s educational system, and the Georgia Board of Education will hold a hearing today on implementing their part of it.
Senate Bill 367, adopted during this year's legislative session, implements the recommendations of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform, which sought policies to reduce the incarceration rate. Part of that includes reducing the number of kids in a pipeline to prison.
Since that pipeline often starts in school disciplinary hearings, lawmakers decided that the people in charge need proper training. The legislation, now law, requires the state board of education to set minimum qualifications for hearing officers and others in the tribunal process.
The new rule on the agenda for a public hearing Thursday — 160-4-8-.15 — mandates that each school district offer at least five hours of training for hearing officers and members of discipline panels and tribunals. It also requires that future hearing officers be active lawyers or have experience in education and says schools must ensure ongoing training.
The training must cover applicable laws and court decisions, due process, rules of evidence and ethical standards.
The meeting starts at 8 a.m. with the hearing expected to start at 9:30 a.m., on the 20th floor of the east tower at 205 Jesse Hill Jr. Dr. SE in downtown Atlanta.
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