GA HB1308

Local and state charter schools and charter school petitioners gain the right to lease, utilize, or buy unused school facilities from local boards of education, including both right of first offer and right of first refusal.

"Unused facilities" are redefined as school properties not in use or unused within the previous two school years and not included in the district's five-year plan as an educational facility with at least 60% used for direct student instruction.

Charter schools may petition the Office of Charter School Compliance to determine whether negotiations with local boards were conducted in good faith, and the Office may attempt to resolve disputes over facility leases or sales.

A charter school's right to an unused facility automatically terminates if the local board adopts a resolution to reopen or open a new school at that facility with at least 90% of the original attendance zone, but the charter school must be compensated for any consideration already provided.

The bill modernizes terminology throughout Georgia's education code, replacing "county boards" with "local boards of education" and "schoolhouses" with "school buildings."