School Attendance and School Climate Committees

Too many students miss school for reasons beyond their control—lack of transportation, mental health challenges, or unstable housing. School Attendance and School Climate Committees (SASCCs) help communities respond with coordinated support.

At Georgia Appleseed, we promote the development of SASCCs as a practical solution to reduce chronic absenteeism, improve school climate, and prevent unnecessary justice system involvement.

What Are SASCCs?

SASCCs are local committees that bring together courts, schools, behavioral health providers and other community agencies to identify and address the root causes of absenteeism. Led by the superior court in each county, these committees help students stay connected to schools and help schools provide the positive learning environment that students need.

When SASCCs meet, they:

Review attendance and discipline data
Identify common barriers to student engagement
Adjust local strategies to better support students
Coordinate across agencies to avoid duplication and delay

Example: In Fulton County, the SASCC protocol includes distributing multilingual community resources to reflect the county’s diverse population.

What’s New in 2025?

Thanks to Senate Bill 123, SASCCs across Georgia now have updated statewide requirements:

Include chronic absenteeism strategies in the committee’s protocol
Meet at least twice per year, starting no later than November 1, 2025
Adopt a written protocol by June 1, 2026
File protocol with Georgia Department of Education for its county-by-county compliance report

More information about the new SASCC requirements here.

Georgia Appleseed’s Role

We’ve worked with communities across Georgia to make SASCCs more effective, including:

Partnering with the Georgia Department of Education to create SASCC guidance
Presenting at statewide judicial conferences
Supporting individual judicial circuits—including Forsyth, Cobb, DeKalb, Chatham, and Douglas—to build and strengthen their SASCC protocols
Conducting statewide surveys to identify the barriers to creating SASCCs, such as inconsistent school engagement, limited time or capacity, and competing coalitions.

Get Support

Want to launch or improve a SASCC in your community?

We offer resources, training, and one-on-one support.