Bill Would Allow Election of Local School Superintendents

50th District State Senator John Wilkinson is one of the sponsors of a bill in the state Senate that would give counties in Georgia an option on how superintendents and school boards are chosen.

Senate Bill 81 would allow counties to have voters elect their local school superintendents and have grand juries select people to fill local boards of education, if a county chose, instead of electing the school board members who then appoint superintendents.

The bill calls for the question of whether this should be allowed to be put on the November 2016 ballot for voters to decide.

If voters ratified a state Constitutional amendment in 2016 allowing a county’s voters to decide to elect their school superintendents, then this law would take effect on January 1, 2017.

If approved, the bill would also require the General Assembly to approve local legislation allowing a county to make the switch.

The bill has been introduced into the State Senate.

However, no votes have been taken on the bill at this point.