How to Get and Complete Georgia DPH Form 3300: Screenings and Deadlines

Georgia Form 3300 is the health screening certificate every child needs before enrolling in a Georgia public school for the first time. A qualified provider fills it out to document four screenings — vision, hearing, dental, and nutrition — and each screening must have been performed within one year before the child starts school. You turn the completed original in to the school at enrollment.

Who Needs Form 3300

Any child entering a Georgia public school for the first time needs a completed Form 3300 on file. That covers children starting Pre-K or Kindergarten and students transferring in from another state. The requirement applies to schools receiving direct financial support from a county Board of Education, the Georgia Department of Education, or the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.¹

Private and parochial schools are not covered by the rule, although some request similar documentation on their own. If your child is transferring from one Georgia public school to another, you don’t need a new form. The sending school forwards the existing certificate and any follow-up records to the new school.¹

The Four Screenings and Who Can Sign

Each section of Form 3300 must be completed and signed by a provider who actually performed that screening. If different providers handle different sections, each one signs only for the work they did, on the same form.

Vision

The vision screening checks visual acuity and eye health. A licensed physician, an optometrist with an active Georgia license, a local health department, a school registered nurse, or a trained employee of Prevent Blindness Georgia can perform it.¹

Hearing

The hearing screening tests auditory responses to catch hearing loss that could affect speech and language development. Along with a physician, a health department, or a school RN, an audiologist or speech-language pathologist with an active Georgia license can sign this section.¹

Dental

The dental screening looks for cavities, infections, and other oral health issues. A dentist or dental hygienist with an active Georgia license can certify this section, along with the general providers above.¹

Nutrition

The nutrition screening records height, weight, and Body Mass Index to flag growth or nutritional concerns. BMI must be calculated using the current formula published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A physician, a registered nurse, or the local health department handles this, often during a routine physical.¹

Where to Get Screened and What It Costs

The simplest route is a well-child visit with your child’s pediatrician, who can handle all four screenings at once. Many insurance plans cover them as preventive care with no out-of-pocket cost.

If your child doesn’t have a regular doctor, county health departments across Georgia perform all four screenings year-round. Fees vary, but expect to pay around $30 for the full set, and some departments waive the fee during back-to-school events each summer.² Call your local health department for current pricing and hours.

You can also split the screenings across providers. A dentist can sign the dental section during a cleaning, an optometrist can handle vision, and the pediatrician or health department can cover the rest. Just make sure every provider signs and dates their section on the same Form 3300 so you submit one complete document.

Filling Out and Submitting the Form

You can download Form 3300 from the Georgia Department of Public Health website or pick up a copy at the school office or county health department.² The top of the form asks for the child’s full legal name, date of birth, and home address. Match these exactly to the school enrollment application; mismatches are one of the easiest reasons for a form to get kicked back.

Each screening section has a space for the provider to record results, sign, and date the evaluation. Review every section before you leave the provider’s office. A blank, unsigned, or undated section will cause the school to reject the form. Submit the completed original to the school at enrollment, either to the front office or the school nurse.

Deadlines and Validity

All four screenings must have been performed within one year before the child is first admitted to a Georgia public school.¹ You do not need to squeeze them into the weeks before school starts.

If a child is admitted without a completed certificate, which happens with mid-year transfers and last-minute enrollments, the parent has three months after admission to submit one.¹ Schools may also grant an extension waiver of up to 90 days.³ Once those grace periods expire, the school can bar the child from attending until the paperwork is in.

Moving from Another State

Families moving to Georgia have a specific option under Rule 511-5-6-.07. A local county health department may accept written records of screenings performed by a provider licensed in another state, as long as those screenings happened within one year before the child enrolls. If the records are acceptable, the health department signs and issues a Georgia Form 3300 based on them and keeps the originals on file. This is discretionary. The health department is not required to accept out-of-state records, and it may ask you to redo one or more screenings.¹

Religious Exemption

Georgia allows parents to decline the screenings on religious grounds. A parent signs an affidavit stating that the screenings are contrary to their sincere religious beliefs, not a matter of personal philosophy or inconvenience. Schools keep the affidavit on file in place of a completed Form 3300. The exemption does not cover immunization requirements, which follow a separate process under different rules.

Students Experiencing Homelessness

Under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, schools must enroll students experiencing homelessness immediately, even without Form 3300, immunization records, or other normally required documents. “Immediately” means the same day or the next day. The child attends classes while the parent works on gathering paperwork, and the school makes the best academic placement possible with the information available.⁴ If a school tries to delay enrollment for missing health records, ask to speak with the district’s McKinney-Vento liaison.

1
Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 511-5-6 – Vision, Hearing, Dental, and Nutrition Screening of Children Entering Public Schools
2
Georgia Department of Public Health. School Health
3
Georgia.gov. Get Required Health Records to Attend School
4
National Center for Homeless Education (NCHE). From the School Office to the Classroom: Strategies for Enrolling and Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness