Georgia Student Settlement Records Project

The Georgia project launches with district requests in preparation. Check back; the Live District Tracker below will populate as requests are sent.

Why this project exists

Parent Data Force is sending substantially the same Georgia Open Records Act request to public school districts across the state. The request seeks final or executed student-related agreements entered into, finalized, materially amended, or extended from the start of the project’s request window through the date of each district’s response. The project currently covers 0 districts.

The request asks for final written agreements that resolve or memorialize student-related educational disputes — settlement agreements, resolution agreements, MOUs and MOAs, mediation agreements, stipulations and consent agreements, side agreements, material amendments and addenda, and other final written agreements. It covers both special-education and general-education disputes, including placement, services, evaluations, eligibility, accommodations, compensatory education, tuition and reimbursement, transportation, extended school year, discipline and exclusion, access to programming, bullying and harassment, discrimination, civil-rights complaints, and enrollment.

The request expressly excludes personally identifiable student information; staff and employment settlements; collective-bargaining and employee grievance matters; personnel discipline and separation matters; workers’ compensation; vendor, procurement, construction, and property disputes; and unrelated commercial matters. Districts may redact student names and other legally protected identifiers.

A statewide comparison can help show how student-related disputes are resolved, what remedies are used, how districts respond to public-records requests, and whether recurring patterns emerge. We do not claim a pattern until records actually support it, and we clearly distinguish what was requested, what a district said, and what the produced records show.

What we are requesting

Each district receives a request for final or executed written agreements that resolve or memorialize student-related educational disputes, regardless of title:

• Settlement agreements and settlement-and-release agreements
• Resolution agreements
• Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs)
• Mediation agreements
• Stipulations, consent agreements, or agreements for judgment/resolution
• Side agreements and side letters
• Amendments, addenda, extensions, or material attachments to such agreements
• Any other final written agreement resolving a student-related educational dispute

We are not requesting personally identifiable student information. The request expressly allows districts to redact student names, parent/guardian names where identifying, addresses, student numbers, dates of birth, and other personally identifiable information protected by law.

Requested next

This list is ranked by reader votes — the more ▲ a district has, the higher it sits, and the top of the list is the next standard request when staff time opens up. New districts start at the bottom and climb as readers vote. Check the Live District Tracker above and this list before requesting a district — if a district is already tracked or queued, there’s no need to request it again.

Not near the top yet? Open a district’s card and tap ▲ to vote it up — every vote moves it up the list.

Nothing in the queue yet — add your district below.

Every donation buys more records requests.

Use the request yourself

Want to send the request yourself? Use our complete copy-and-paste template. You can adapt the district name, records custodian, and signature and submit it directly to your school district.

How to use it

1. Replace the bracketed district and custodian placeholders.
2. Set [RECORDS WINDOW START] to the date the standardized request window opens and verify the district’s current records custodian or official submission address.
3. Replace the signature with your own name/organization.
4. Keep a copy of the sent request and acknowledgment.
5. Do not add student personally identifiable information merely to use this template.

Hi,


Here is the reusable template for the Georgia school-district open records request. Replace the bracketed placeholders before sending.


Subject: [DISTRICT NAME] — Georgia Open Records Request — Student Settlement Agreements, MOUs, MOAs & Resolution Agreements ([RECORDS WINDOW START]–Present)


Dear [RECORDS CUSTODIAN NAME]:


Pursuant to the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq., I request copies of the following records maintained by [DISTRICT NAME].


TIME PERIOD


This request covers records entered into, executed, finalized, materially amended, or extended from [RECORDS WINDOW START] through the date of your response.


RECORDS REQUESTED


Please provide copies of all final or executed student-related agreements resolving, compromising, settling, memorializing, or otherwise disposing of a dispute, claim, complaint, appeal, due-process matter, grievance, or other contested educational issue involving [DISTRICT NAME], including:


- Settlement agreements and settlement-and-release agreements;


- Resolution agreements;


- Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs);


- Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs);


- Mediation agreements;


- Stipulations, consent agreements, or agreements for judgment/resolution;


- Side agreements, side letters, or similar written agreements;


- Amendments, addenda, extensions, or attachments that materially alter or form part of such agreements; and


- Any other final written agreement, regardless of title, that resolves or memorializes the resolution of a student-related educational dispute.


This includes agreements involving SPECIAL EDUCATION matters, including but not limited to IDEA/Section 504 matters, evaluations, eligibility, placement, services, accommodations, compensatory education, tuition or reimbursement, transportation, extended-school-year services, or other special-education rights or services.


It also includes agreements involving GENERAL EDUCATION students or student matters, including, where applicable, student discipline or exclusion, access to educational programming, bullying/harassment or discrimination complaints, civil-rights complaints, educational services, enrollment, or other student-related disputes resolved through a written agreement.


This request is limited to STUDENT/EDUCATION matters.


EXPRESS EXCLUSION — NO STAFF OR EMPLOYMENT RECORDS


I am not requesting any agreement whose subject is a District employee, former employee, applicant, administrator, teacher, staff member, bargaining unit, or employment relationship. Please exclude collective-bargaining agreements, employee grievances, personnel settlements, employment discrimination matters, separation agreements, staff discipline matters, workers' compensation matters, and other employee/labor agreements.


I am likewise not seeking ordinary vendor, procurement, construction, property, or commercial settlements unrelated to student educational matters.


EXISTING LISTS OR INDEXES


If the District already maintains an existing log, index, spreadsheet, database export, or other existing record identifying responsive student-related agreements during this period, please include that existing record as well, with student PII redacted as necessary. I am not asking the District to create a new index or summary.


NO STUDENT PII REQUESTED


I am expressly NOT requesting personally identifiable student information.


The District may redact student names, parent/guardian names where identifying, addresses, contact information, student identification numbers, dates of birth, and any other direct or indirect identifier that must be removed under FERPA or another applicable law.


Accordingly, please do not withhold an entire responsive agreement merely because it contains some protected information, a confidentiality provision, or student-record material. Please redact only the information that is lawfully exempt and produce all remaining non-exempt portions.


If the District contends that any responsive agreement must be withheld in its entirety, please identify the record or category of records and the specific statutory exemption relied upon, along with the factual basis for withholding.


ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION


Please provide all records electronically.


For agreements maintained as electronic documents or PDFs, please provide searchable electronic copies where available rather than printing and rescanning them. Native electronic format is welcome where practical. Please transmit records by email, shared download link, or another electronic delivery method.


No paper copies are requested, and I do not authorize costs associated solely with printing electronically maintained records.


ROLLING PRODUCTION


If responsive records can be produced in batches, please provide them on a rolling basis rather than delaying production of readily available records until the entire request has been completed.


FEES / PUBLIC INTEREST


Under O.C.G.A. § 50-18-71(c), a public agency may charge only the reasonable cost of producing records — commonly no more than 25 cents per page for paper copies — and the charge for a written response may not exceed $25.00 unless the requester agrees in writing to a higher amount. Search, retrieval, and redaction time may be charged only as the statute allows. This request is noncommercial and is intended to contribute to public understanding of the District's use of public funds and its resolution of student-related educational disputes. I therefore ask that any permissible fee be waived or reduced.


If the District anticipates any fee, please provide a written, itemized, good-faith estimate identifying the actual tasks, time, rate, and factual basis for each component before incurring the charges. If a reasonable modification would materially reduce cost or burden while preserving the substance of the request, please identify that specific modification.


If no responsive records exist for a particular category, please simply state that.


Please confirm receipt of this request.


Thank you,


[YOUR NAME]
[ORGANIZATION, IF ANY]

Records library

The tracker starts empty — requests are going out now.

The Georgia project is new: the first standardized requests are being sent on a rolling basis, and no district rows have been published yet. Acknowledgments, fee estimates, and responses will be logged in the tracker above as they arrive. Once records are produced, they will be reviewed for privacy, indexed, summarized, and posted when appropriate. Appeals and compliance disputes will also be tracked here.

What happens when records arrive

When a district produces records, each production goes through the same process before it appears on this page:

1. Received — the production is logged for the district.
2. Privacy/relevance review — the production is checked against the request scope and for student personally identifiable information.
3. Indexed and summarized — agreements are organized by district and summarized factually.
4. Published with source documents — reviewed records are posted here with their sources.

Records are reviewed before public posting to ensure student personally identifiable information is not inadvertently exposed — names, addresses, student IDs, dates of birth, and unique details that could re-identify a child. District redactions are not assumed to be sufficient on their own.

Legal context

The request invokes the Georgia Open Records Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq. — principally § 50-18-71 (the public’s right of access to public records) and § 50-18-72 (records that may be withheld, and the redaction standard for personal identifiers). The Act limits what a district may charge: copying costs are commonly computed at 25 cents per page, and a written response is capped at $25.00 unless the requester agrees in writing to a higher amount. The request asks districts to redact personally identifying information rather than withhold entire agreements, and to cite the specific statutory exemption for any portion they decline to produce.

The existence of a settlement does not prove wrongdoing, and a missed expected date on this tracker does not by itself mean a district violated the law. A response can be an acknowledgment, a fee estimate, a lawful extension, a production schedule, or a complete production. This page reports what was requested, what each district said, and what the produced records show.

• How to request records (Georgia First Amendment Foundation)
• Georgia First Amendment Foundation — open government resources
• Georgia Attorney General — Open Government (incl. mediation program)

Frequently asked questions

Help expand the project. Request a district, share the page, and check back as records are published.

Email ga@parentdataforce.com to request a district or report a correction.