Title 59, Education

Each accredited high school in this State shall provide an accelerated program of study whereby any student who demonstrates sufficient ability shall, upon approval of the administrative head of such school and of the parent, guardian or other lawful custodian of such student, be…

(A) A school district board of trustees may award high school students no more than two elective Carnegie units for the completion of released time classes in religious instruction as specified in Section 59-1-460 if: (1) for the purpose of awarding elective Carnegie units, the r…

(A) A South Carolinian who enlisted in any branch of the United States military while enrolled as a student in any high school of this State during the period December 8, 1941, through September 1, 1946, must be issued a high school diploma upon presentation of documentation of s…

On or before May first of each calendar year, every high school which issues a State high school diploma shall submit to the State Superintendent of Education in such form as he may prescribe the following data: (1) The number of high school graduates that entered the freshman cl…

After such reports have been received, the State Superintendent of Education shall cause them to be tabulated so as to show the academic performance of graduates from the respective high schools who entered institutions of higher learning. When such tables have been prepared, the…

The State Board of Education may prescribe all such regulations as may not be inconsistent with Chapters 35, 37, 39, 43, 45, 53 and 55 and with the School Code to provide for the inspection and classification of all elementary and secondary schools.

No high school in this State shall lose its accreditation on the basis of class or school enrollment only, and any high school which lost its accreditation status during the school year 1964-65, based solely upon class or school enrollment, is hereby restored to its former accred…

(A) To participate in interscholastic activities, students in grades nine through twelve must achieve an overall passing average and either: (1) pass at least four academic courses, including each unit the student takes that is required for graduation; or (2) pass a total of five…

Acting through guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education, the secondary schools of this State shall emphasize teaching as a career opportunity.

Except as otherwise expressly provided, if a single school district establish a high school, the board of trustees of such district shall be the high school board of trustees; and if any two or more districts establish a high school, the board of trustees of the district wherein …

Each high school in this State shall make available to its students voter registration application forms. Pursuant to Section 7-5-175, the forms must be provided to high school administrators upon their request to the appropriate county voter registration board or entity charged …

The State Board of Education shall adopt, establish, and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the intent and purpose of this article.

Any public high school established prior to February 19, 1907 may claim the privileges of this article; provided, that it conforms to the requirements of this article and the regulations of the State Board of Education. But nothing in this article shall be construed to repeal any…

The governing board of any school district maintaining a secondary school which includes any grades nine through twelve, inclusive, shall establish driver education and training programs for students in high school grades.

The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules and regulations for establishment by local school districts of approved driver education and training courses, and when duly promulgated shall have full force and effect of law. Such regulations shall require that credit for com…

The rules and regulations of the State Board of Education and training course shall be under the supervision of a qualified driver education teacher. Such rules and regulations shall include instrumental standards, teacher qualifications, reimbursement procedure, and other requir…

The State Board of Education shall allow to each school district operating a driver education training program an amount equal to thirty dollars per pupil completing the standard prescribed course in the program in that school district during the preceding fiscal year in accordan…

When, pursuant to or under color of authority of any general act, any special act or any act making a special provision in or about the subject matter of a general act, a high school shall have been established by the boards of trustees of two or more adjoining school districts l…

Such high school district shall be coterminous with and equal in area to the two or more school districts by action of whose boards of trustees it shall be created, but shall not in any way terminate the continued corporate existence of such school districts as separate entities.

The governing body of each such district shall be a board known as a high school board of trustees, which shall be constituted, when the boards of trustees of two or more school districts shall have acted in establishing or evidencing an intention to establish a high school pursu…

The corporate name of each such high school district shall be such as shall be adopted by resolution of the high school board of trustees. The high school board of trustees may likewise adopt a corporate seal and may elect from time to time one of their number as clerk to hold of…

All such districts shall have the privileges and benefits provided by this article and shall be subject to the regulations of the State Board of Education as therein provided.

Such high school boards of trustees shall have all of the rights, powers and privileges conferred by law upon the trustees of common school districts and may manage, lease, dispose of, sell, deliver or convey the property of the district upon such terms and conditions as the boar…

This chapter may be cited as the "South Carolina Charter Schools Act of 1996".

(A)(1) Subject to item (2), an existing public school may be converted into a charter school if two-thirds of the faculty and instructional staff employed at the school and two-thirds of all voting parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in the school agree to the filing …

(A) A charter must be approved or renewed for a period of ten school years; however, the charter only may be revoked or not renewed under the provisions of subsection (F) of this section. The authorizer annually shall evaluate the conditions outlined in subsection (F). The annual…

(A) For purposes of this chapter, an Alternative Education Campus (AEC) is any charter school with an explicit mission and purpose as outlined in its charter to serve an enrolled student population with: (1) severe limitations that preclude appropriate administration of the asses…

(A) A charter school may voluntarily terminate its charter and contract with the authorizer before the expiration of the ten-year term of the contract by a majority vote of the charter school board, which constitutes a dissolution event of the corporation and the charter school. …

Upon dissolution of a charter school, its assets may not inure to the benefit of any private person. Any assets obtained through restricted agreements with a donor through awards, grants, or gifts must be returned to that entity. All other assets become property of the State of S…

(A) All charter schools, other than converted charter schools whose employees remain employees of the local school district or the South Carolina Public Charter School District pursuant to Section 59-40-100(D), are eligible covered employers in the South Carolina Retirement Syste…

(A)(1) If an employee of a local school district makes a written request for leave to be employed at a charter school before July 1, 2006, the school district shall grant the leave for up to five years as requested by the employee. The school district may require that the request…

(A) A local school board of trustees authorizer shall distribute state, county, and school district funds to a charter school as determined by the following formula: the previous year's audited total general fund revenues, divided by the previous year's weighted students, then in…

A child who resides in a school district other than the one where a charter school is located may attend a charter school outside his district of residence; however, the receiving charter school shall have authority to grant or deny permission for the student to attend pursuant t…

(A) The Department of Education shall disseminate information to the public, directly and through authorizers, on how to form and operate a charter school and how to utilize the offerings of a charter school. (B) The Department of Education shall develop the charter school applic…

(A) Within one year of taking office, all persons elected or appointed as members of a charter school board of trustees or a charter school authorizer board of trustees after July 1, 2026, shall complete successfully an orientation program. The program must include specific instr…

(A) The State Board of Education shall compile evaluations to include, but not be limited to, school report cards of charter schools received from authorizers. They shall review information regarding the regulations and policies from which charter schools were released to determi…

The Department of Education shall make available, upon request, a list of vacant and unused buildings and vacant and unused portions of buildings that are owned by school districts in this State and that may be suitable for the operation of a charter school. The department shall …

There is created in the state treasury the Charter School Facility Revolving Loan Program. This loan program is comprised of federal funds obtained by the state for charter school facilities, other funds appropriated or transferred to the fund by the state, and privately donated …

(A) The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations and develop guidelines necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter, including standards to determine compliance with this chapter and an application process for authorizers and charter schools to include a ti…

(A) The governing body of a charter school may sue and be sued. The governing body may not levy taxes or issue bonds. (B) An authorizer is not liable for any of the debts of the charter school. (C) A local school district, authorizer, members of the board or area commission of an…

This chapter is enacted to: (1) improve student learning; (2) increase learning opportunities for students; (3) encourage the use of a variety of productive teaching methods; (4) establish new forms of accountability for schools; (5) create new professional opportunities for teac…

An application already on file with the charter school advisory committee before the effective date of Section 59-40-220 is subject to the time line in effect at the time the application was filed. An application filed after the effective date of Section 59-40-220 is subject to t…

A school established as a private school, on the effective date of this section, which desires to convert to a charter school shall dissolve and must not be allowed to open as a charter school for a period of twelve months; provided, however, that if the enrollment of the convert…

(A) The South Carolina Public Charter School District is created as a public body. The South Carolina Public Charter School District must be considered a local education agency and is eligible to receive state and federal funds and grants available for public charter schools and …

(A)(1) The South Carolina Public Charter School District must be governed by a board of trustees consisting of not more than nine members: (a) two appointed by the Governor; (b) one appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (c) one appointed by the President of th…

The geographical boundaries from which a charter school sponsored by a public or independent institution of higher learning may accept students are the same as the boundaries of the State of South Carolina.