The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) has released the updated Georgia Promise Scholarship School list.
The legislation, or State Senate Bill 233, was passed in April of 2024.
It allows eligible students and parents to receive $6,500 in credits to go to a private school or homeschooling option if they are in the attendance zone of a public school in the bottom 25-percent of performing schools.
The list was released twice in late 2024 and redacted twice before the new list came out on Friday.
Republican State Senator for District 51 Steve Gooch was a sponsor of the bill.
“I don’t think it will hurt public schools at all, because the money will follow the kid,” Gooch said. “So it shouldn’t bother the school systems financially, because they’re not going to have to spend the money to educate that child in that school any longer.”
State Senate Bill 233 defines a private school as any nonpublic “sectarian or nonsectarian” school, meaning religious schools could also qualify to intake students.
Students qualify for the program provided they are:
In an attendance zone for a school that is on the Promise Scholarship list
Has been a Georgia resident for at least one year (unless the parent is active military duty)
The student’s family income does not exceed 400-percent of the federal poverty level
The student is not the beneficiary of a scholarship or other benefit (including the Georgia Special Need Scholarship Act, which provides for Individualized Education Plan)
The student is not enrolled in a school operated by the Department of Juvenile Justice
The new list was unchanged from the previous iterations for schools in the northeast Georgia area.
The list for schools in AccessWDUN’s coverage area is as follows.*
*Keep in mind, these numbers are approximate as students in the attendance zones of these schools qualify, not just students attending these schools.
Hall County:
Chestatee High School
West Hall High School
Lanier College and Career Academy
West Hall Middle School
Chicopee Elementary School
Friendship Elementary School
Lanier Elementary School
Lyman Hall Elementary School
McEver Elementary School
Oakwood Elementary School
Tadmore Elementary School
Approximate students eligible: 10,650
Gainesville City Schools:
Centennial Arts Academy
Fair Street International Academy
Gainesville Exploration Academy
Gainesville Middle School East
Gainesville Middle School West
Approximate students eligible: 8,144 (all)
Gwinnett County:
Berkmar High School
Meadowcreek High School
Gwinnett Online Campus
International Transition Center
Radloff Middle School
Summerour Middle School
Alford Elementary
Baldwin Elementary
Britt Elementary School
Graves Elementary School
Lawrenceville Elementary School
Minor Elementary School
Nesbit Elementary School
Norcross Elementary School
Rockbridge Elementary School
Stripling Elementary School
Approximate students eligible: 31,345
Forsyth County:
Little Mill Middle School
Approximate students eligible: 3,893
Lumpkin County:
Lumpkin County Middle School
Approximate students eligible: 3,799 (all)
Habersham County:
Cornelia Elementary School
Approximate students eligible: 1,083
Banks County:
Banks County High School
Banks County Elementary School
Approximate students eligible: 2,880 (all)
Barrow County:
Auburn Elementary School
Statham Elementary School
Winder Elementary School
Approximate students eligible: 4,450
Out of the over 336,000 students in public schools in the northeast district, roughly 66,244 students are eligible which is roughly 19.7-percent of public school students in the area.
The application period for the promise scholarship opens on March 1 and will run until April 15 while applications for private schools run until this Friday and will open again for the entire months of April, July, and October.
A list of participating private schools can be found here.
