(A) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a charter school is exempt from all provisions of law and regulations applicable to a public school, a school board, or a district, although a charter school may elect to comply with one or more of these provisions of law or regulations. (B) A charter school: (1) must adhere to the same health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights requirements as are applied to public schools operating in the same school district or, in the case of the South Carolina Public Charter School District or a public or independent institution of higher learning authorizer, the local school district in which the charter school is located; (2) must meet, but may exceed, the same minimum student attendance requirements as are applied to public schools; (3) must adhere to the same financial laws and regulations, financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as are applied to public schools, and post its annual budget, to include its operating budget, and audit on its website with other financial information required to be posted by law or regulation. A charter school's financial audit is due to its authorizer no earlier than October 15, or the next business day, unless the Department of Education grants an extension or establishes a grace period for the authorizer; (4) must post its annual budget, to include its operating budget and any debt incurred by the school, and audit on its website with other financial information required to be posted by law or regulation; (5) must provide notice to its authorizer prior to entering into an agreement to borrow money secured by school property, funds, or other assets; (6) must maintain a transaction register that includes a complete record of all funds expended over one hundred dollars, from any source, for any purpose. The register must: (a) be prominently posted on the school's website and made available for public viewing and downloading; (b) be accompanied by a complete explanation of any codes or acronyms used to identify a payee or an expenditure; (c) be searchable and updated at least once a month; (d) include for each expenditure: (i) the transaction amount; (ii) the name of the payee; and (iii) a statement providing a detailed description of the expenditure; and (e) not include: (i) an entry for salary, wages, or other compensation paid to individual employees; and (ii) any information that can be used to identify an individual employee; (7) must maintain on its website a copy of each monthly statement for all credit cards maintained by the school and by a management organization used for the benefit of the school, including credit cards issued to its officers or employees for official use. The credit card number on each statement must be redacted prior to posting on the website. Each credit card statement must be posted within thirty days after the first payment is made toward the balance shown on the statement. No personal credit cards may be used by an employee or board member for purchases over two hundred fifty dollars directly related to the school or its operations; (8) must be considered a school district for purposes of tort liability under South Carolina law, except that the tort immunity does not include acts of intentional or wilful racial discrimination by the governing body or employees of the charter school. Employees of charter schools must be relieved of personal liability for any tort or contract related to their school to the same extent that employees of traditional public schools in their school district or, in the case of the South Carolina Public Charter School District or a public or independent institution of higher learning authorizer, the local school district in which the charter school is located are relieved; (9) may in its discretion, hire noncertified teachers in a ratio of up to twenty-five percent of its entire teacher staff; however, if it is a converted charter school, it shall hire in its discretion noncertified teachers in a ratio of up to ten percent of its entire teacher staff. However, in either a new or converted charter school, a teacher teaching in the core academic areas as defined by federal law must be certified in those areas or possess a baccalaureate or graduate degree in the subject he or she is hired to teach. Part-time noncertified teachers are considered pro rata in calculating this percentage based on the hours which they are expected to teach. Any teacher, regardless of certification status, who resigns, is suspended, or is terminated amid allegations of unprofessional conduct must be reported to the Department of Education by the authorizer; (10) must perform Department of Social Services Child Abuse and Neglect Registry criminal history record checks as applicable to all public schools for all school personnel, governing board of directors, volunteers, and other individuals who regularly come into contact with students, as defined in Section 59-19-117; (11) must hire or contract for, in its discretion, administrative staff, including a school leader, to oversee the daily operation of the school. At least one of the administrative staff must be certified or experienced in the field of school administration. An administrator must be physically present onsite during school operating hours; (12) must admit all children eligible to attend public school to a charter school, subject to space limitations, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school, or in the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, with an explicit mission and purpose of specializing in providing evidence-based, specific educational or behavioral health services for educationally disadvantaged students with a demonstrated need for such services. Demonstrated need may include, but not be limited to, as documented in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), 504 plan, a medical or psychological diagnosis, or documentation that the student is not meeting grade-specific standards in literacy as documented by the student's school. For purposes of this section, educationally disadvantaged students are those students as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) or other subsequent federal law. Evidence-based services must include, but are not limited to, services to students who need evidence-based, specialized, multi-sensory instruction in literacy or other services included in the student's IEP or 504 plan. This specialized mission and purpose must be defined in the school's charter and charter contract as approved by the authorizer and as allowed by ESSA or other federal law. If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students must be accepted by lot, and there is no appeal to the authorizer. In the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, that is serving educationally disadvantaged students, if the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students may be accepted by weighted lot as allowed by ESSA or other federal law with mission-aligned preference and the process clearly described in their charter and charter contract approved by their authorizer, and there is no appeal to the authorizer; (13)(a) must not limit or deny admission or show preference in admission decisions to any individual or group of individuals, except in the case of an application to create a single-gender charter school, in which case gender may be the only reason to show preference or deny admission to the school or as allowed by subitems (b) and (c). (b) must give preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous year. (c) may give enrollment preference to any of the following by enrolling the student without requiring participation in a lottery when a lottery is otherwise required under this chapter: (i) a sibling of a pupil currently enrolled and attending, or who, within the last six years, attended the school for at least one complete academic year; (ii) a child or children of any employee of the charter school or member of the charter school committee, provided that the number of students eligible for this preference may not exceed twenty percent of the school's total enrollment; (iii) dependents of active-duty members of the military residing or stationed in this State, limited to not more than ten percent of the school's total enrollment except for schools meeting the provisions of subitem (f). Dependents of active-duty military members are subject to the enrollment provisions of Section 59-63-33; (d) may enroll a student eligible for multiple enrollment preferences based on only one of the preferences, at the charter school's discretion. A student eligible for an enrollment preference that is denied the enrollment preference because the charter school has exceeded the number of enrollment preferences allowed must be permitted to participate in any enrollment lottery held by the school for the year the enrollment preference is denied; (e) may, in the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, mission-aligned preference may be given to educationally disadvantaged students as specifically defined in their charter and charter contract approved by their authorizer and as allowed by ESSA; (f) may, if a charter school is located on a federal military installation or base where the appropriate authorities have made buildings, facilities, and grounds on the installation or base available for use by the charter school as its principal location, give enrollment priority to otherwise eligible students who are dependents of military personnel living in military housing on the base or installation or who are currently stationed at the base or installation not to exceed fifty percent of the total enrollment of the charter school. This priority is in addition to the other priorities provided by this item, but no child may be counted more than once for purposes of determining the percentage makeup of each priority; (14) must consist of a board of directors of seven or more individuals with the exact number specified in or fixed in accordance with the bylaws. Members of a board of directors may serve a term of two years, and may serve additional terms. The charter school's bylaws shall require staggered terms for board members with an election for two or more board positions occurring every two years. Fifty percent of the members of the board as specified by the bylaws must be individuals who have a background in K-12 education or in business, and the bylaws of the charter school also must provide for the manner of selection of these members. In addition, at least fifty percent of the members of the board as specified by the bylaws must be elected by the employees and the parents or guardians of students enrolled in the charter schools governed by the board. One parent or guardian of each student shall be designated to cast one vote per open board seat in the election for each student they have enrolled in the charter school. Employees of the charter school shall have one vote per open board seat. Employees who also have at least one child enrolled in the school shall retain their vote as an employee and may also be designated to cast votes in the same manner as other parents. All members must be residents of the State of South Carolina. A person who has been convicted of a felony must not be elected to a board of directors. If the board of directors consists of an odd number of members, the extra member must be an individual who has a background in K-12 education or in business. Notice of the election must be posted on its website at least thirty days in advance of the election; (15) must be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, including the charter school and its governing body. A board of directors of a charter school shall notify its authorizer of any regular meeting of the board at least forty-eight hours prior to the date on which it is to occur; (16) must be subject to the ethics and government accountability requirements for public members and public employees as contained in Chapter 13, Title 8. For purposes of this subsection, members of the charter school boards are considered public members and employees of the charter school board, including individuals assigned to charter schools who are employed by management organizations, are considered public employees. The charter contract in accordance with Section 59-40-60(B) must contain a statement of assurance of ethical compliance on behalf of the school; (17) must notify and provide a copy of any executed or amended management organization contracts to the authorizer. All management organization contracts must also be posted in a prominent location on its website; (18) must collect, maintain, and make available to its authorizer the following information concerning the operation and management of the charter school: (a) a list of members currently serving on the board of the charter school, including name, address, and term of office; (b) copies of policies approved by the board of the charter school; (c) board of the charter school meeting minutes and agendas; (d) annual financial reports, including a copy of audited financial statements of the charter school; (e) a copy of the budget approved by the board of the charter school with any amendments; (f) all health and safety reports and certificates, including those related to fire safety, environmental matters, asbestos inspection, boiler inspection, and food service; and (g) any management letters issued as part of the annual financial audit; (19) must post on the school's website the most recent version of the school's bylaws and board policies including, but not limited to, the policies and procedures pursuant to Section 59-40-60(F)(13) and (14). (C)(1) If a charter school denies admission to a student, the student may appeal the denial to the authorizer. The decision is binding on the student and the charter school. (2) If a charter school suspends or expels a student, other charter schools or the local school district in which the charter school is located has the authority but not the obligation to refuse admission to the student. (3)(a) A charter school is eligible for federally sponsored, state-sponsored or district-sponsored interscholastic leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, grants, and recognition programs for students, educators, administrators, staff, and schools to the same extent as all other public schools. (b) A charter school student is eligible to compete for, and if selected, participate in any extracurricular activities not offered by the student's charter school which are offered at the resident public school he would otherwise attend. A charter school student is eligible to compete for, and if selected, participate in an activity governed by the South Carolina High School League offered at the resident public school he would otherwise attend if the league-governed activity is not offered at the student's charter school. (c) A charter school student is eligible for extracurricular activities at the student's resident public school consistent with eligibility standards as applied to full-time students of the resident public school. (d) A school district or resident public school may not impose additional requirements on a charter school student to participate in extracurricular activities that are not imposed on full-time students of the resident public school. (e) Charter school students shall pay the same fees as other students to participate in extracurricular activities. (f) Charter school students shall be eligible for the same fee waivers for which other students are eligible. (D) The State is not responsible for student transportation to a charter school unless the charter school is designated by the local school district as the only school selected within the local school district's attendance area. However, a charter school may enter into a contract with a school district or a private provider to provide transportation to the charter school students. (E) The South Carolina Public Charter School District Board of Trustees may not use program funding for transportation.
Exemption; powers and duties; admissions; composition; purposes; governance; transportation
S.C. Code Ann. § 59-40-50, under Title 59, Chapter 40.
S.C. Code Ann. § 59-40-50