Title 59, Education

(A) Before January 1, 2007, each local school district shall adopt a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying at school. The school district shall involve parents and guardians, school employees, volunteers, students, administrators, and community representatives …

The State Department of Education shall review alternative school plans for eligibility for funding and provide technical assistance for planning, establishing, and implementing an alternative school based on best practice. The department shall assist any district or consortia wh…

(A) This article must not be interpreted to prevent a victim from seeking redress pursuant to another available civil or criminal law. This section does not create or alter tort liability. (B) A school employee or volunteer who promptly reports an incident of harassment, intimida…

It is not lawful for any person who is less than five or more than twenty-one years of age to attend any of the public schools of this State, including kindergarten, except that: (1) Persons over twenty-one years of age may attend night schools; (2) When a pupil is in the graduat…

(A) Any district board of trustees may authorize or order the expulsion, suspension, or transfer of any pupil for the commission of any crime, gross immorality, gross misbehavior, persistent disobedience, or for violation of written rules and promulgated regulations established b…

(A) In determining whether or not a student meets the standards of conduct and behavior promulgated by the board of trustees necessary for first time enrollment and attendance in a school in the district, the board shall consider nonschool records, the student's disciplinary reco…

Any district board may confer upon any administrator the authority to suspend a pupil from a teacher's class or from the school not in excess of ten days for any one offense and for not more than thirty days in any one school year but no such administrator may suspend a pupil fro…

When a pupil is suspended from a class or a school, the administrator shall notify, in writing, the parents or legal guardian of the pupil, giving the reason for such suspension and setting a time and place when the administrator shall be available for a conference with the paren…

The district board must expel for no less than one year a student who is determined to have brought a firearm to a school or any setting under the jurisdiction of a local board of trustees. The expulsion must follow the procedures established pursuant to Section 59-63-240. The on…

The board may expel for the remainder of the school year a pupil for any of the reasons listed in Section 59-63-210. If procedures for expulsion are initiated, the parents or legal guardian of the pupil shall be notified in writing of the time and the place of a hearing either be…

The board or a designated administrator may transfer a pupil to another school in lieu of suspension or expulsion but only after a conference or hearing with the parents or legal guardian. The parents or legal guardian may appeal a transfer made by an administrator to the board.

The governing body of each school district may provide corporal punishment for any pupil that it deems just and proper.

Any district board of trustees may regulate, control, or prohibit clubs or other such activities on school property or during school hours.

(A) For purposes of this section: (1) "Student" means a person enrolled in a public education institution. (2) "Superior student" means a student who has attended a state university, college, or other public education institution longer than another student or who has an official…

(A) For purposes of this section, "paging device" means a telecommunications, to include mobile telephones, device that emits an audible signal, vibrates, displays a message, or otherwise summons or delivers a communication to the possessor. (B) The board of trustees of each scho…

Children within the ages prescribed by Section 59-63-20 shall be entitled to attend the public schools of any school district, without charge, only if qualified under the following provisions of this section: (a) Such child resides with its parent or legal guardian; (b) The paren…

(A) Children within the ages prescribed in Section 59-63-20 also are entitled to attend the public schools of a school district, without charge, if: (1) the child resides with one of the following who is a resident of the school district: (a) a person who is not the child's paren…

This article may be cited as the "School Crime Report Act".

(A) The school district may require an adult seeking to enroll a child who resides with the adult pursuant to Section 59-63-31(1)(c) to accept responsibility for making educational decisions concerning the child. These educational decisions may include, but not be limited to, rec…

By December 31, 1990, the State Department of Education, after consultation with the State Law Enforcement Division, shall develop a standard school crime reporting form which must be used by all school districts in the State. The form must define what constitutes criminal activi…

(A) A pupil complies with the residency requirements for school attendance in a school district if a parent or legal guardian of the pupil is transferred to or is pending transfer to a military installation within this State while on active military duty pursuant to an official m…

On forms prepared and supplied by the State Department of Education, each school district in the State shall report school-related crime quarterly to the State Department of Education. The department shall compile the information received from the districts and annually, not late…

The State Department of Education shall conform the requirements of Sections 59-63-310 through 59-63-340 on school crime so as to fulfill the provisions of the 'No Child Left Behind Act of 2001' (20 U.S.C. Section 7912) which includes reports on persistently dangerous schools and…

Failure of a school administrator to report criminal conduct as set forth in Section 59-24-60 or failure to report information concerning school-related crime pursuant to Section 59-63-330 shall subject the administrator and the school district to liability for payment of a party…

The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations necessary to enforce the provisions of this article.

Nonresident military personnel may enroll in a program designed to award a South Carolina high school diploma. However, neither the State nor local districts shall be required to bear the cost for any nonresident military personnel enrolled in these programs.

Local law enforcement officials are required to contact the Attorney General's "school safety phone line" when any felony, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, crime involving a weapon, or drug offense is committed on school property or at a school-sanctioned or s…

The Attorney General shall monitor all reported school crimes. The Attorney General or his designee may represent the local school district when a criminal case is appealed to an appellate court of competent jurisdiction.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (1) When a student who is convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for assault and battery against school personnel, as defined in Section 16-3-612, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature committed on school grounds or at a s…

A person affiliated with a school in an official capacity is granted immunity from criminal prosecution and civil liability when making a report of school-related crime in good faith, to the extent that the exposure to criminal prosecution or civil liability arises from the same …

The senior administrator of each school is responsible for including an accurate summary of the provisions of this article and Section 16-3-612 in the school's student handbook each year.

(1) No person shall be refused admission into or be excluded from any public school in the State on account of race, creed, color or national origin. (2) Except with the express approval of a board having jurisdiction, no student shall be assigned or compelled to attend any schoo…

The first two weeks of the opening of any public school in this State shall, for the purposes of this section, be known and designated as enrollment weeks. During these two weeks, all teachers in the free public schools of this State shall receive and enroll such pupils as they p…

In the event that any enrolled pupil ceases to attend the school in which he has been enrolled and desires to attend another public school of this State, the teacher in the school wherein the pupil was last enrolled shall furnish the pupil, upon his application or upon the applic…

A high school student who is the victim of physical abuse, harassment, or stalking by a classmate during school hours or otherwise resulting in a restraining order being granted against the classmate by a court of competent jurisdiction may transfer with the consent of the studen…

The State Board of Education shall have printed and furnish to the teachers in the free public schools of this State copies of Sections 59-63-410 and 59-63-420 and shall give such other publicity thereto as may be deemed expedient and advisable.

Any person wilfully violating the provisions of Sections 59-63-410 to 59-63-430 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars in the discretion of the court. The fines collected under this section shall be credited to the school fund of …

(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, a nonresident child otherwise meeting the enrollment requirements of this chapter may attend a school in a school district which he is otherwise qualified to attend if the person responsible for educating the child pays an amoun…

A child must not be counted more than once in the school enrollment of a school district in any one school year. A pupil who enrolls in more than one school in any school year must be counted only in the enrollment of the first school which the pupil legally attends for at least …

The teacher or principal of every school shall keep and furnish annually to the trustees of the school district a list of all pupils that have attended the school during the preceding scholastic year, showing the names of the pupils, their respective places of residence and the n…

Whenever the principal, superintendent, or any other responsible school official in charge of a school in this State has reason to believe that the enrollment of certain pupils in a certain school may threaten to result in riot, civil commotion, or may in any way disturb the peac…

If school children in one county reside closer to schools in an adjacent county, they may attend such schools upon the school authorities of the county of their residence arranging with the school officials of the adjacent county for such admission and upon payment of appropriate…

(A) The General Assembly finds that numerous public school students reside in Fairfield County School District but are entitled to attend the schools of Chester County School District pursuant to Section 59-63-480. The General Assembly finds it necessary to provide by law for uni…

When it shall so happen that any person is so situated as to be better accommodated at the school of an adjoining school district, whether special or otherwise, the board of trustees of the school district in which such person resides may, with the consent of the board of trustee…

Each county shall provide to every school in the county the forms and ink pads necessary to record each pupil's fingerprints in kindergarten and grades one through twelve. The State Law Enforcement Division and all local law enforcement agencies are instructed and authorized to a…

The trustees of any school district who knowingly permit the enrollment of pupils who have not been transferred with the consent of the trustees of the district wherein such pupils reside shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall pay a fine not exceeding twenty…