Georgia school tip line law

What does the Georgia law require?

Each local board of education or public school governing body must have an anonymous reporting program by July 1, 2026. The board or governing body must develop and operate the program itself, or contract with a provider to do so. The law names no state agency as the operator, although it refers to "the state-wide anonymous reporting program." The requirement came from HB 268 (2025), which amended the Code section on suicide prevention and awareness training. HB 268 took effect upon the Governor's approval, or upon becoming law without it.

What must the program include?

Anyone must be able to use the program to report anonymously. The program must provide anonymous reporting support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At a minimum, reporting must be available through a mobile phone app and a multilingual crisis center. The crisis center must be staffed by individuals with evidence-based counseling and crisis intervention training. The program must comply with all federal and state laws.

How are tips routed and handled?

The program must promptly forward reports to the right school-based team. It must support a coordinated crisis response by schools, local 9-1-1 call centers and local law enforcement when a school and law enforcement response is reasonably expected. The program must require and certify training for the school-based teams in each school that receive report notices. It must also require and certify training for local 9-1-1 call-center staff who receive reports that need a law enforcement response.

What else must schools do?

The program must promote public awareness and education about the reporting program before it launches. Each local board or public school governing body must adopt policies for giving students, families and school staff information about publicly available anonymous reporting resources. Boards must run youth violence prevention training that teaches students how to report someone at risk, including through the state-wide anonymous reporting program.

What if a district already has a tip line?

The duty does not apply to a school system or school that already had a substantially compliant anonymous reporting program operating on July 1, 2025. Existing provider contract terms that do not require substantial compliance may not be renewed past their current expiration date.

What about confidentiality and false reports?

The anonymous reporting subsection says nothing about keeping a reporter's identity or report contents confidential, and creates no public-records exemption for tips. That subsection also sets no penalty for a false or bad-faith report made through the program. No one has a right to sue for loss or damage caused by carrying out this Code section.

Is there a state threat system too?

Subject to appropriations, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) must set up a secure statewide alert system that public schools use to report and monitor safety threats on or affecting a campus. It is separate from the local anonymous reporting program. No student's name may go into that system until local law enforcement has investigated and verified the threat and, if the local school system employs one, a school social worker has evaluated the student. Only designated staff at each public school may access the system.

Is there a state rule on the program?

The State Board of Education rule that carries out this Code section covers only suicide-prevention policy, a model suicide-prevention policy and staff training; it sets nothing on the anonymous reporting program.