HB251 - School Choice

Student Transfer Procedures (School Choice HB 251) Guidelines & Application Process

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STUDENT ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

All children residing in Paulding County are required to enroll in the school of the attendance area in which they reside, unless special authorization is given by the Superintendent or designee. Attendance areas (school zones) are designated by the Board of Education.

The district does not provide transportation, including Special Education transportation, to and from school for school choice students. Families are responsible for transportation when approved to attend school outside his/her attendance area.

Special needs students will be assigned to schools from the central office level based on which schools have the programs needed to implement the student's Individual Education Plan (IEP).

While the schools listed on this website are open, please note that seats available for each school may vary. In the event a particular school has available space, and the number of transfer requests exceeds the remaining available capacity, a random lottery will be conducted to fill available seats.  

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Information about the School Choice Law (House Bill 251)

K-12 public school parents and guardians in Georgia may elect to enroll their child in a school within the local school district in which they now reside other than the one to which the student has been assigned by the local board of education; provided a school has classroom space available after its assigned students have been enrolled.

The parent shall assume the responsibility and cost of transportation of the student to and from school.

In compliance with HB 251, the Paulding County School District has provided notification and information about the District’s process. 

Application Window

OPENS: February 12, 2026

CLOSES: Feb. 27, 2026

 

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Application

School Choice requests for currently enrolled students in grades K-11 must be made by the enrolling parent through Parent Portal under the “More” option from the Index. Simply log in to the Parent Portal, select "More" and proceed to "online Registration Existing' and follow the directions posted to the right.  Parents will receive an email from Parent Portal indicating that an application has been submitted. 

Emails indicating approval or denial will be sent before the end of the current school year.  

Parent Portal instructions may be downloaded from the right column of this page.

Upcoming Kindergarten students for the 26-27 school year, please utilize the link below:

HB251 School Choice-Kindergarten – Fill out form

If you have questions about the application process, please contact the School Leadership division.

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School Choice Options under HB 251

Attention parents, under HB 251 for the 2026-2027 school year, the following schools are receiving school choice students:

 

ELEMENTARY	MIDDLE	HIGH
Abney	Austin	Hiram
Allgood	Dobbins	South Paulding
Baggett	East Paulding
Burnt Hickory	Herschel Jones
Dallas	McClure
Dugan	Moses
Hiram	Ritch
Hutchens	Scoggins
Nebo	South Paulding
Northside
Panter
Poole
Ragsdale
Roberts
Russom
Shelton