Plains High School opened in 1921, became racially integrated in 1966, and served students from Plains, Georgia, until 1979. Its history of distinguished educators and a progressive curriculum brought recognition at state and national levels, and its graduates made important contributions to Georgia and beyond, including President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith Carter. After county school consolidation led to its closure in 1979, a partnership between the Plains community and the National Park Service restored and reopened the school in 1996 as the main Visitors Center for the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site. In 1996, the Georgia Department of Education, Sumter County Schools, and the National Park Service also began an educational program for students visiting the site. On January 15, 1997, the Georgia State Board of Education approved a resolution recognizing the facility's importance from 1921 to 1979 and the impact of the collaborative educational venture. Later that year, the Georgia General Assembly passed a bill naming Plains High School the State School of Georgia, recognizing educators Julia Coleman and Y.T. Sheffield for outstanding leadership, noting that President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Smith Carter were graduates, and recalling that President Carter's first political office was service on the Sumter County School board. Governor Zell Miller signed the bill into law on April 22, 1997, officially designating Plains High School the State School of Georgia.