Georgia Rules for Students with Disabilities (160-4-7) covers special education services for the approximately 200,000 students in the state with IEPs (~14.5% of enrollment; OSEP Annual Report to Congress). The regulations add on to IDEA with regulations on provision of physical education, services in charter schools, hearing aid checks, procedures for the LEA to identify a surrogate parent, and modifications to IDEA’s rules on parentally placed private schools. In contrast to a state like Delaware with 19 counties, Georgia’s special education services are spread across 159 counties that range in size from 1 high school to 17, from 187,000 students to 881 students. This extreme spread creates large district/ small district and urban rural educational divides within the state.

Special education in the state is fairly decentralized. GaDOE provides an implementation guide that is a well organized index of the state regulations. IEP forms and policy and procedure manuals are created by local school districts. For example, Atlanta has their parent rights guide and a local charter school in Atlanta has its own guide. GaDOE’s Georgia Learning Resources System (GLRS) regional centers provide professional development support across the state. Another distinctive feature is the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership—a state wide program that seeks to put a paid parent mentor in every school district in the state. These mentors are parents of children with disabilities themselves and help other families navigate the IEP process at no cost. Other supports for parents include Parent to Parent of Georgia and Disability Rights Georgia.

To see what IEPs look like in Georgia– and guidance on how to read IEPs (and how to know if they are well written!), check out the IEP section guide below.