Title 59, Education

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 (C) of this section. The sponsor annually shall evaluate the conditions outlined in subsection (C). The annual ev…

(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 charter school may terminate its contract with a sponsor before the ten-year term of contract if all parties under contract with the charter school agree to the dissolution. A charter school that terminates its contract with a sponsor directly may seek application for the lengt…

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 sponsor.

(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 sponsor 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 incre…

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 sponsors, on how to form and operate a charter school and how to utilize the offerings of a charter school. (B) At least annually, the department shall provide upon request a directo…

(A) Within one year of taking office, all persons elected or appointed as members of a charter school board of trustees after July 1, 2006, shall complete successfully an orientation program in the powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board member including, but not limited …

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

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 …

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 to include a timeline for submission of applications th…

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

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.

If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this chapter, the General …

(A) In authorizing charter schools, it is the intent of the General Assembly to create a legitimate avenue for parents, teachers, and community members to take responsible risks and create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating all children within the public school …

As used in this chapter: (1) A "charter school" means a public, nonreligious, nonhome-based, nonprofit corporation forming a school that operates by sponsorship of a public school district, the South Carolina Public Charter School District, or a public or independent institution …

(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 regul…

(A) In order to promote the quality of charter school outcomes and oversight, the charter school sponsor shall adopt national industry standards of quality charter schools and shall authorize and implement practices consistent with those standards. (B) A charter school sponsor sh…

(A) An approved charter application constitutes an agreement between the charter school and the sponsor. (B) A contract between the charter school and the sponsor must be executed and must reflect all provisions outlined in the application as well as the roles, powers, responsibi…

(A) If the governing body of a charter school offers as part of its curriculum a program of online or computer instruction, this information shall be included in the application and the governing body shall be required to: (1) provide each student enrolled in the program with a c…

(A)(1) An applicant shall submit a letter of intent at least ninety days before submitting an application to the board of trustees or area commission from which it is seeking sponsorship and a copy to the South Carolina Department of Education. (2) An applicant shall submit the a…

(A) A member of the South Carolina Public Charter School District or of the governing board or sponsor of the charter school who is indicted in any court for any crime, or has waived the indictment if permitted by law, may be suspended by the Governor, who shall appoint another i…

A sponsor may conditionally authorize a charter school before the applicant has secured its space, equipment, facilities, and personnel if the applicant indicates such authority is necessary for it to meet the requirements of this chapter. Conditional authorization does not give …

A final decision of the school district or a public or independent institution of higher learning sponsor may be appealed by any party to the Administrative Law Court as provided in Sections 1-23-380(B) and 1-23-600(D).

The following words and phrases as used in this chapter shall, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, have the following meanings: (a) "School child" shall mean any person between the ages of six and twenty whose domicile is with his or her parent within t…

Subject to the terms and provisions of this chapter every school child in the State who has not yet finished or graduated from high school and who desires to attend a private school located within the State shall be eligible for and entitled to receive a State scholarship grant i…

The State scholarship grants provided for in Section 59-41-20 shall be payable from funds appropriated by the General Assembly for the payment thereof.

It shall be a prerequisite to the grant above permitted that the local school district in which the school child resides make available a grant of local funds to such school child and to that end the trustees of each school district within the State are hereby authorized to appro…

The total of the annual scholarship grant provided for each child by this chapter shall not exceed the actual cost of tuition at the private school attended by the child.

The State Board of Education is hereby authorized and directed to promulgate such rules and regulations, consistent with the terms of this chapter, for the receiving and processing of applications for scholarship grants, the payment of grants and the administration of this chapte…

It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain, attempt to obtain, expend or attempt to expend, any scholarship funds provided by this chapter for any purpose other than in payment of, or reimbursement for, the tuition cost of the child to whom such scholarship has been awarded at…

Any person convicted of violating the provisions of this chapter shall be punished by imprisonment for a term not to exceed three years or by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars, or by both, in the discretion of the court.