Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law Wednesday that would help special-needs children of active-duty military parents obtain state scholarships to attend private schools that provide specialized instruction the students need.
HB 62 was inspired by a group of Brenau University occupational therapy graduate students.
The bill, approved by the Georgia General Assembly in March, waives the usual requirement that special-needs students seeking private-school scholarships spend at least one year in a Georgia public school in cases involving children of active-duty military personnel. Because of the transient nature of the military, some military families weren’t living in Georgia long enough to qualify for the assistance.
Deal signed the legislation at an Atlanta Press Club luncheon in downtown Atlanta.
“Veterans sacrifice in their time and exposure to danger to protect and support all of us,” Deal said, as he signed the bill, surrounded by the four students who proposed it, their professors and Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, who introduced the bill in the Senate.
The bill started as a class project in a public policy course that is part of the master of occupational therapy program at Brenau. The four students were instructed by their professor, David Miller, to develop a way to modify an existing piece of legislation and to present it as public policy.
The students – Allison Guisasola of Braselton, Ashley McCoy of Maysville, Rachel Strazynski Susher of Atlanta and Shelby Wrenn of Clarkesville – decided it was difficult for military children to qualify for one of the state’s special needs scholarships because of the one-year residency requirement.
“We felt like that was such an easily amendable thing to look into, trying to get (children) therapy as soon as possible,” said Sushner.
The students made a former presentation to two local legislators, Rep. Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, and Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega. Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, also supported the bill, and he introduced it in the Senate.
“It’s a real simple bill, it is good government, it’s good for our students,” Miller said.
During his remarks to the Atlanta Press Club, Deal touted the recently completed session as “the most successful session during my time in office.” He specifically touted legislation aimed at helping children, including an autism insurance bill he signed earlier Wednesday, the medical marijuana bill that will help children of certain diseases and his controversial measure that will let the state step in to help failing school districts.
Deal became emotional when he discussed Ava’s Law, an insurance coverage requirement for autism. The law’s namesake, Ava Bullard of Lyons. He said the medical coverage provided by this bill changed Ava from a young girl who didn’t respond to her own name to a vibrant, fun-loving girl with a bright future ahead of her.
But Deal flashed an angrier side when a reporter asked him about a column by newspaper publisher Dink NeSmith. A former chairman of the Board of Regents, NeSmith accused the governor of meddling with the state’s higher education system.
Saying he was “disappointed” in NeSmith’s column, the governor said he had been asked specifically by NeSmith and other members of the Board of Regents to share this thoughts on the selections of Hank Huckaby as chancellor of the university system and Jere W. Morehead as president of the University of Georgia.
“Dink NeSmith was the chairman of the Board of Regents,” Deal said. “If he did not want my opinion, he should not have asked for it."
