Document provides guidance on calculating the School Climate Star Rating--a diagnostic tool to determine if a school is on the right path to school improvement--in compliance with O.C.G.A. § 20-14-33, which requires the development and use of a "star rating" to address school climate.

Presentation provides information on school climate and Georgia's School Climate Star Rating.

The State Board of Education shall establish a state-wide school climate management program to help local schools and systems requesting assistance in developing school climate improvement and management processes. Such projects will be designed to optimize local resources through voluntary community, student, teacher, administrator, and other school personnel participation. These processes will be designed for, but will not be limited to, promoting positive gains in student achievement scores, student and teacher morale, community support, and student and teacher attendance, while decreasing student suspensions, expulsions, dropouts, and other negative aspects of the total school environment. The state board upon request of a local school system is authorized to provide the necessary on-site technical assistance to local schools and systems and to offer other assistance through regional and state-wide conferences and workshops, printed material, and such other assistance as may be deemed appropriate under this Code section. The state board shall, upon request of a local school system, produce model codes of behavior and discipline and shall produce guidelines for application and administration of such codes. The results of this program shall be annually presented to the General Assembly for review in determining future appropriations for state-level technical assistance necessary to perform the duties assigned to the state board under this Code section.

(a) No later than July 1, 2000, each local board of education shall adopt policies designed to improve the student learning environment by improving student behavior and discipline. These policies shall provide for the development of age-appropriate student codes of conduct containing Standard of behavior, a student support process, a progressive discipline process, and a parental involvement process. The State Board of Education shall establish minimum Standard for such local board policies. The Department of Education shall make available for utilization by each local board of education model student codes of conduct, a model student support process, a model progressive discipline process, and a model parental involvement process.

(b) No later than August 1, 2011:

• (1) Each local board of education shall adopt a policy that prohibits bullying of a student by another student and shall require such prohibition to be included in the student code of conduct for schools in that school system;

This document provides information about school attendance and school climate committees and provides tools to help comply with Georgia law requiring the creation of such committees.