Special Needs Scholarship Program The deadline to have a student enrolled in a private school through the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship (GSNS) Program for the 2012 – 2013 school year is September 17, 2012. This requirement cannot be waived because it is specified in Georgia State Law and the State Board of Education is not permitted to waive law for individual students.

Click on the Additional Resources link on the right side of this webpage to find all information regarding the program. It is also recommended that parents bookmark this webpage and check it for periodic updates. For students continuing in the GSNS Program, read the Continuing Participation document.

There is no application to participate. The scholarship calculator on this web page will be updated in May 2012 with scholarship amounts for the 2012 - 2013 school year. Scholarship amounts for students generally range from $2,500 to $13,500 with an average amount of about $6,000. The award sheet generated by this calculator is the only proof of a student's eligibility for the GSNS Program.

A student must meet the following eligibility requirements to participate in the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program during the 2012 - 2013 school year for the first time:

• Student Eligibility Criteria 1 - The student´s parent(s) currently resides within Georgia and has been a Georgia resident for at least one year.
• Student Eligibility Criteria 2 - The student completed the entire immediate prior school year in attendance at a Georgia public school in either grades kindergarten through 12.
• Student Eligibility Criteria 3 - Student was enrolled and reported by a public school district(s) for funding purposes during the preceding October 2011 AND March 2012 full-time equivalent (FTE) program counts in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 20-2-160.
• Student Eligibility Criteria 4 – A student is not required to have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for an entire school year to qualify. The student must be served at some point during the immediate prior school year under an IEP. The student must be reported by a school district in either the October 2011 OR March 2012 FTE program counts OR in student record as a student receiving special education services.
  
  At the end of the school year, school districts update student records for students served by an IEP after the March FTE submissions to reflect that they are special education students. In mid-July the database for the scholarship calculator is updated to include these students.

There are no exceptions to the eligibility criteria.

If a student meets the eligibility criteria for the GSNS Program; a parent has the right to request a transfer from a student’s current public school to:

• Another public school within their district of residence; or
• Another public school district outside their district of residence; or
• One of the three state schools for the blind or deaf; or
• A private school authorized to participate in the GSNS Program.

Funds received through the GSNS Program can only be used to offset tuition and fees at a private school authorized by the State Board of Education to participate in the program. Funds cannot be used to offset the costs of out of district tuition, charter schools, or other options available under public school choice.