O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 20-2-109 (2019)

Duties of local school superintendents

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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Statute text

The local school superintendent shall constitute the medium of communication between the State School Superintendent and subordinate local school officers. The local school superintendent shall be the executive officer of the local board of education; shall be the agent of the local board in procuring such school equipment and materials as it may order; shall ensure that the prescribed textbooks are used by students; shall verify all accounts before an application is made to the local board for an order for payment; and shall keep a record of all official acts, which, together with all the books, papers, and property appertaining to the office, shall be turned over to the successor. It shall be the local school superintendent's duty to enforce all regulations and rules of the State School Superintendent and of the local board according to the laws of the state and the rules and regulations made by the local board that are not in conflict with state laws; and to visit every school within the local school system to become familiar with the studies taught in the schools, observe what advancement is being made by the students, counsel with the faculty, and otherwise aid and assist in the advancement of public education.

History

(Ga. L. 1919, p. 288, § 154; Code 1933, § 32-1009; Ga. L. 1988, p. 612, § 3.)

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes. - In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1910, § 1551(172), which was subsequently repealed but was succeeded by provisions in this Code section, are included in the annotations for this Code section.

County superintendent cannot contract debt on behalf of county board without previous authority from board. State Bd. of Educ. v. Elbert County Bd. of Educ., 112 Ga. App. 840, 146 S.E.2d 344 (1965).

County superintendent of schools has no authority to obligate the county board of education under a contract unless authorization has been previously obtained from the board. Knight v. Troup County Bd. of Educ., 144 Ga. App. 634, 242 S.E.2d 263 (1978).

Superintendent cannot contract debt nor dispose of uncollected funds without board's authority. - County superintendent of schools cannot contract a debt on behalf of the county board of education without previous authority from the board, nor, in the absence of such authority, can the superintendent dispose of county funds before those funds are collected. American Ins. Co. v. Seminole County Bd. of Educ., 51 Ga. App. 808, 181 S.E. 783 (1935).

County superintendent is not authorized to disclaim title to property vested in board. - Authority given to the superintendent by former Code 1933, §§ 32-912 and 32-1009 (see now O.C.G.A. §§ 20-2-57, 20-2-59, 20-2-105, and 20-2-109) to act as an agent for the county school board did not include any authority to disclaim title to property vested in the board as public trustees. Ingram v. Doss, 217 Ga. 645, 124 S.E.2d 87 (1962).

Superintendent as policymaker. - No clearly established law barred firing a school superintendent, considered a policymaking or confidential employee under Georgia law and an executive on whom the school board relied to enforce policies, for speaking about inadequate property tax collections as such speech was about quintessential policy matters; individual school board officials had qualified immunity on claims of retaliatory termination under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Leslie v. Hancock County Bd. of Educ., 720 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 2013).

Failure to ensure compliance with regulations. - Evidence supported a finding that a school superintendent knew of a change to the School District's dual enrollment policy and of the questions that had been raised about the validity of the policy change, which violated the clear and unambiguous language of the State's Dual Enrollment Regulation, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 160-4-2-.34(6)(b), 160-4-2-.34(2)(e), but the superintendent failed to ensure compliance and allowed the policy change for the benefit of the superintendent's own daughter. Quigg v. Ga. Prof'l Stds. Comm'n, 344 Ga. App. 142, 809 S.E.2d 267 (2017).

Testimony on fiscal affairs of board of education. - County school superintendent acts as the chief fiscal officer of the board of education; in this capacity the superintendent qualifies to testify concerning the fiscal affairs of the board, and there is no error in the admission of testimony by the county school superintendent outlining the expenditure required of the board of education under the Quality Basic Education Act, O.C.G.A. § 20-2-130 et seq. Hicks v. Arnall, 258 Ga. 296, 368 S.E.2d 733 (1988).

Official immunity applied to superintendent. - School superintendent did not have a ministerial duty to enforce an eye protection policy passed pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 20-2-109. Neither the policy, the statute, nor a regulation specified steps to be taken by the superintendent to enforce compliance with the policy; thus, the superintendent was entitled to official immunity in a lawsuit resulting from a student's injury during a science experiment. Dollar v. Grammens, 294 Ga. App. 888, 670 S.E.2d 555 (2008).

Mandamus is the proper and exclusive remedy to enforce performance of duties. Ferguson v. Smith, 27 Ga. App. 806, 110 S.E. 42 (1921) (decided under former Code 1910, § 1551 (172)).

Cited in Mathew v. Ellis, 214 Ga. 665, 107 S.E.2d 181 (1959); Gold v. DeKalb County Sch. Dist., 346 Ga. App. 108, 815 S.E.2d 259 (2018).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Power to manage and control county school systems in Georgia rests in the county board of education; the county school superintendent is obliged to comply with and carry out all rules, regulations, and instructions of the county board of education. 1974 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U74-65.

Duty to run system upon recall of board of education. - County school superintendent is charged with the duty of continuing to effectuate and enforce the rules, regulations, and instructions of the county board of education and continuing to operate the county school system during the period of time between the successful recall of all or a majority of the county board of education and the filling of the vacancies on the county board of education by special election. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-43.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d. - 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, §§ 28, 35, 66, 78, 83, 84, 116, 125 et seq., 321.

C.J.S. - 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, §§ 140 et seq., 399. 78A C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, § 726.

ALR. - Validity of regulation by public school authorities as to clothes or personal appearance of pupils, 14 A.L.R.3d 1201.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 12 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1988–2024 · leading case: Hall v. Nelson, 651 S.E.2d 72 (Ga. 2007).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Hall v. Nelson, 651 S.E.2d 72 (Ga. 2007). · cites it 4× “" OCGA § 20-2-109. "Employment contracts of teachers, principals, and other certificated professional personnel shall be in writing, and such contracts shall be signed .”
Doctor Awanna Leslie v. Hancock Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 720 F.3d 1338 (11th Cir. 2013). · cites it 2× “” Ga.Code § 20-2-109. The Supreme Court of Georgia has described the superintendent as the “chief fiscal officer of the board of education.”
Dollar v. Grammens, 670 S.E.2d 555 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “Dollar contends that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment to Gault, arguing that the superintendent had a ministerial “duty to enforce the Eye Protection Policy because this is a rule passed by the Board of Education” pursuant to OCGA § 20-2-109. We find no error…”
Henry Cnty. Bd. of Educ. v. S. G., 786 S.E.2d 907 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 20-2-109 (“It shall be the local school superintendent’s duty to enforce all regulations and rules .”
Elaine Ann Gold v. Dekalb Cnty. Sch. Dist., 815 S.E.2d 259 (Ga. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “8 OCGA § 20-2-109 provides, in relevant part, that it is the local school superintendent's "duty to enforce all regulations and rules .”
Hicks v. Arnall, 368 S.E.2d 733 (Ga. 1988). · cites it 2× “OCGA § 20-2-109. In this capacity he qualifies to testify concerning the fiscal affairs of the board, and such testimony is relevant to this case.”
Leslie v. Hancock Cnty. Sch. Dist., 994 F. Supp. 2d 1339 (M.D. Ga. 2014). · cites it 2× “(citing O.C.G.A. § 20-2-109). The *1345 court also stated that Richardson conceded at oral argument her complaint “rises or falls” with Leslie’s because she was a part of Leslie’s leadership team, and her speech was in concert with Leslie’s.”
Quigg v. Georgia Prof'l Standards Comm'n., 809 S.E.2d 267 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “The evidence further shows that despite that knowledge, Quigg, in her role as local school district superintendent, failed to ensure that the State's Dual Enrollment Regulation was properly enforced in the School District, instead allowing the School District to continue…”
Doctor Awanna Leslie v. Hancock Cnty. Bd. of Educ. (11th Cir. 2013). · cites it 2× “” Ga. Code § 20-2-109. The Supreme Court of Georgia has described the superintendent as the “chief fiscal officer of the board of education.”
Kohn v. Camden Cnty. Sch. Dist. (S.D. Ga. 2024). “§ 20-2-109. Therefore, even if Dr. Tucker were not serving in a role that would warrant imputing his knowledge to CCSD in November 2019, he was in such a role on January 1, 2020.”
AG Ex Rel. KC v. Autauga Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 506 F. Supp. 2d 927 (M.D. Ala. 2007). “Compare Ga.Code § 20-2-109 ("The local school superintendent shall be the executive officer of the local board of education; .”
Floyd v. Waiters, 133 F.3d 786 (11th Cir. 1998). “Ga. Code Ann. § 20-2-109 (emphasis added).”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.