(a) The Governor shall appoint a steering committee, which shall be named the Education Information Steering Committee, composed of representatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Technical and Adult Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, the office of the Governor, the Office of Planning and Budget, the Department of Audits and Accounts, the Georgia Technology Authority, the Office of School Readiness, the Professional Standards Commission, the Office of Education Accountability, the State Data and Research Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, the Legislative Budget Office, and local school systems. The steering committee shall identify the data required to implement the Quality Basic Education Program on a fiscally sound basis and the data required to evaluate the effectiveness of the components of public education in Georgia. The steering committee shall identify data that shall be required from local units of administration, public libraries, public colleges and universities through the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, pre-kindergarten programs, the Professional Standards Commission, and postsecondary technical colleges and schools for the implementation of this article. Further, the steering committee shall develop a design for a state-wide comprehensive educational information system which will provide for the accurate, seamless, and timely flow of information from local and regional education agencies, units of the University System of Georgia, and technical schools and colleges to the state. The design shall include hardware, software, data, collection methods and times, training, maintenance, communications, security of data, and installation specifications and any other relevant specifications needed for the successful implementation of this system. No student shall be identifiable by name in that portion of the pre-kindergarten through grade 12 record stored at the state level, and any identification number shall be encoded to prevent unauthorized use of a student's information; provided, however, that full-time equivalent student data collected pursuant to Code Section 20-2-160 shall be identifiable for audit purposes in separate files. The steering committee shall present such recommendations to the Education Coordinating Council. Upon approval of the boards of the respective education agencies, the steering committee shall issue appropriate requests for proposals to implement a state-wide comprehensive educational information system, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly. The State Data and Research Center, at the direction of the Education Coordinating Council and working through the steering committee, shall initiate contracts with appropriate vendors and local units of administration for the procurement of services, purchase of hardware and software, and for any other purpose as directed by the Education Coordinating Council, consistent with appropriation by the General Assembly.

(b) The State Board of Education, the Board of Technical and Adult Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Office of School Readiness shall require an individual student record for each student enrolled which at a minimum includes the data specifications recommended by the steering committee and approved by the Education Coordinating Council. The Professional Standards Commission shall maintain an individual data record for each certificated person employed in a public school.

(c) For the purpose of this article, authorized educational agencies shall be the Department of Education; the Office of School Readiness; the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia; the Department of Technical and Adult Education; the Education Coordinating Council; the Professional Standards Commission; the State Data and Research Center and units under contract to the State Data and Research Center; the Office of Education Accountability; the education policy and research components of the office of the Governor; the Office of Planning and Budget; the Legislative Budget Office; the House Research Office; and the Senate Research Office. Any information collected over the state-wide comprehensive educational information system, including individual student records and individual personnel records shall be accessible by authorized educational agencies, provided that any information which is planned for collection over the system but which is temporarily being collected by other means shall also be accessible by authorized educational agencies and provided, further, that adequate security provisions are employed to protect the privacy of individuals. All data maintained for this system shall be used for educational purposes only. In no case shall information be released by an authorized educational agency which would violate the privacy rights of any individual student or employee. Any information collected over the state-wide comprehensive educational information system which is not stored in an individual student or personnel record format shall be made available to the Governor and the House and Senate Appropriations, Education, and Higher Education committees, except information otherwise prohibited by statute. Data which are included in an individual student record or individual personnel record format shall be extracted from such records and made available in nonindividual record format for use by the Governor, committees of the General Assembly, and agencies other than authorized educational agencies.

(d) The State Data and Research Center through the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia shall request sufficient funds annually for the development, operation, training of appropriate personnel, and maintenance of the system. The State Data and Research Center shall submit quarterly reports to the Education Coordinating Council that include budgetary data reflecting expenditures related to the state-wide comprehensive educational information system.

(e) The state-wide comprehensive educational information system shall be fully completed by July 1, 2003, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly for this purpose; provided, however, that the steering committee shall have the authority to specify components which, in its judgment, cannot be completed until July 1, 2004. During the phased implementation of the system, highest priority shall be given to the electronic transmission of complete full-time equivalent counts, the uniform budgeting and accounting system, and complete salary data for each local school system. All pre-kindergarten programs, local units of administration for grades kindergarten through 12, technical schools and colleges, public libraries, public colleges and universities, and regional educational service agencies shall provide data to the State Data and Research Center as required by their respective boards and agencies. Notwithstanding any provision of this Code section to the contrary, no local school system shall earn funds under Code Section 20-2-186 for superintendents, assistant superintendents, or principals if the local unit of administration fails to comply with the provisions of this Code section. (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Data and Research Center is authorized to and shall obtain and provide to the Department of Public Safety, in a form to be agreed upon between the State Data and Research Center and the Department of Public Safety, enrollment, attendance, and suspension information regarding minors 15 through 17 years of age reported pursuant to Code Sections 20-2-690 and 20-2-697, to be used solely for the purposes set forth in subsection (a.1) of Code Section 40-5-22.