Charter application; revision; formation of charter school; charter committee; application requirements

(A) An approved charter application constitutes an agreement between the charter school and the authorizer. (B) A contract between the charter school and the authorizer must be executed and must reflect all provisions outlined in the application as well as the roles, powers, responsibilities, and performance expectations for each party to the contract. A contract must include the proposed enrollment procedures and dates of the enrollment period of the charter school. All agreements regarding the release of the charter school from school district policies must be contained in the contract. The Department of Education shall develop a contract template to be used by charter schools and the authorizer. The template must serve as a foundation for the development of a contract between the charter school and the authorizer. (C) A material revision of the terms of the contract between the charter school and the authorizer may be made only with the approval of both parties. (D) Except as provided in subsection (F), an applicant who wishes to form a charter school shall: (1) organize the charter school as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the laws of this State; (2) form a charter committee for the charter school which includes one or more teachers; and (3) submit a letter of intent and a written charter school application to the board of trustees or area commission from which the committee is seeking sponsorship. (E) A charter committee is responsible for and has the power to: (1) submit a letter of intent and an application to operate as a charter school, sign a charter school contract, and ensure compliance with all of the requirements for charter schools provided by law; (2) employ and contract with teachers and nonteaching employees, contract for services, and develop pay scales, performance criteria, and discharge policies for its employees. All teachers whether certified or noncertified must undergo the background checks and other investigations required for certified teachers, as provided by law, before they may teach in the charter school; and (3) decide all other matters related to the operation of the charter school, including budgeting, curriculum, and operating procedures. (F) The charter school application, based on an application template with compliance guidelines developed by the Department of Education, must include: (1) an executive summary, not to exceed two pages; (2) the mission statement of the charter school, which must be consistent with the principles of the General Assembly's purposes pursuant to Section 59-40-20; (3) the measurable goals, objectives, and academic performance standards to be achieved by the charter school, and a description of the charter school's admission policies and procedures; (4) evidence that an adequate number of parents or legal guardians with students eligible to attend the proposed school pursuant to Section 59-40-50 support the formation of a charter school and justify the projected per pupil allocation in the application budget; (5) a description of the charter school's educational program, including how it will meet or exceed the academic performance standards and expectations, including academic standards adopted by the State Board of Education and how the instructional design, learning environment, class size and structure, school calendar, scheduling flexibility, use of virtual instruction, curriculum, and teaching methods enable each pupil to achieve these standards; (6) a description of the charter school's plan for evaluating pupil achievement and progress toward accomplishment of the school's achievement standards in addition to state assessments, the timeline for meeting these standards, and the procedures for taking corrective action if that pupil achievement falls below the standards; (7) evidence that the plan for the charter school is economically sound, a proposed budget to start the charter school and a proposed budget for the entire contractual term of the charter, a description of the manner in which an annual audit of the financial and administrative operations of the charter school, including any services provided by the authorizer, is to be conducted; (8) a description of the governance and operation of the charter school, including a detailed school start-up plan, resumes and background information on the charter committee members, the capacity and experience of the school leadership and management team, any involvement with the replication of existing successful public charter schools, any proposed management organization, and the nature and extent of parental, professional educator, and community involvement in the governance and operation of the charter school; (9) a description of how the charter school plans to conduct community outreach to ensure all members of the community are aware of the school and have an opportunity to enroll; (10) a description of transportation services to be provided, if any; (11) if available, a description of the school location by address, or, at a minimum, zip code, the school building, other facilities, and equipment and how they shall be obtained. If this information is not yet available, it shall be updated as soon as facilities are secured; (12) an explanation of the employment relationship that shall exist between the proposed charter school, or its management organization, and the administration, faculty, and staff of the charter school, including a staffing chart aligned with the budget and student enrollment projections, and descriptions of evaluation procedures; (13) a description of a reasonable grievance and termination procedure for teachers employed by the school or employed by the school's management organization, as required by this chapter, including notice and a hearing before the governing body of the charter school. The application must state whether or not the provisions of Article 5, Chapter 25, Title 59 apply to the employment and dismissal of teachers at the charter school; (14) a description of student rights and responsibilities, including attendance, behavior and discipline standards, and a reasonable hearing procedure, including notice and a hearing before the board of directors of the charter school before expulsion; (15) an assumption of liability by the charter school for the activities of the charter school and an agreement that the charter school must indemnify and hold harmless the authorizer, its servants, agents, and employees, from any and all liability, damage, expense, causes of action, suits, claims, or judgments arising from injury to persons or property or otherwise which arises out of the act, failure to act, employment practices, or negligence of the charter school, its agents and employees, in connection with or arising out of the activity of the charter school; (16) a description of the types and amounts of insurance coverage to be obtained by the charter school; (17) a copy of any proposed management organization contracts contemplated by the charter school. The contract must include a term sheet that sets forth the length of the contract, the roles and responsibilities of the governing board of the charter school, the staff of the charter school, the staff of the management organization, the scope of services and resources to be provided by the management organization, the performance evaluation measures and timelines, the compensation structure, including clear identification of all fees to be paid to the management organization, the methods of contract oversight and enforcement, the conditions of renewal and termination of the contract and assurances that the governing board of the charter school, at all times, maintains independent fiduciary oversight and authority over the school budget and ultimate responsibility for the school's performance. The contract shall not allow profit-sharing with the authorizer or any affiliated entity; (18) evidence the applicant has filed the appropriate documents to be organized as a nonprofit corporation under South Carolina law; (19) a statement of assurances for the applicant to execute affirming the applicant understands and agrees to perform the essential responsibilities and obligations of a charter school; (20) in the case of a proposed charter school using a virtual learning model as its primary mode of delivering instruction, the application must include information regarding the following requirements to be performed by the charter school's board: (a) The requirement that the charter school's board offer a student orientation and notify the parent or guardian of each enrolled student of the requirement to participate, and that each student complete the orientation before participating in any instructional activity. (b) The requirement that the board adopt a policy addressing a student's failure to participate in instructional opportunities. The policy must provide that a student is subject to consequences, which may include disenrollment, if both of the following conditions are met: (i) after the student's parent or guardian receives written notice, the student fails to comply with the policy within a reasonable period specified by the school; and (ii) intervention strategies outlined in the policy fail to result in the student's consistent participation in instructional activities. (c) The requirement that the policy adopted pursuant to subitem (b) provides, if a student is disenrolled pursuant to this policy, the school shall: (i) notify the parent or guardian in writing of the obligation to enroll the student in a school in accordance with state law; (ii) initiate the transfer of the student to the district of residence; (iii) request that the parent or guardian provide the name of the school, and, if applicable, the district in which the student will enroll; and (iv) coordinate directly with the receiving school or district to transfer student records and any other documentation necessary to support appropriate educational placement. (d) For purposes of this item "instructional opportunities" means classroom-based or nonclassroom-based activities a student is expected to complete, participate in, or attend during a school day including, but not limited to: (i) logging into online curriculum or programs; (ii) completing offline activities; (iii) completing assignments associated with a program, curriculum, or course; (iv) testing; (v) participating in face-to-face meetings with school staff or service providers; (vi) participating in telephone or video conferences with school staff or service providers; and (vii) engaging in other documented communications with school staff or service providers related to curriculum or programs. (G) Nothing in this section shall require a charter school applicant to provide a list of prospective or tentatively enrolled students or prospective employees with the application. (H) Prior to November 1, 2026, the Department of Education shall develop a separate application for replication to encourage creation of additional charter schools that fulfill the purpose and mission of this chapter. The application for replication must focus on submission of data and information to demonstrate the prior record of the existing school and how such record will be repeated at the replicated school. No school that has received an overall rating of less than "Average" on the South Carolina School Report Card at any time during the preceding three years shall be eligible to apply for replication. An existing charter school that seeks to expand operations to a location situated more than one mile from its original campus shall apply for replication in accordance with this section This provision does not apply to a charter school that is relocating its entire operations from one facility to another.