(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 must:
(1) 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 sponsor, the local school district in which the charter school is located;
(2) meet, but may exceed, the same minimum student attendance requirements as are applied to public schools;
(3) adhere to the same financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as are applied to public schools;
(4) 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 sponsor, the local school district in which the charter school is located are relieved;
(5) 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 the federal No Child Left Behind 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;
(6) 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;
(7) 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). 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 students' IEP or 504 plan. This specialized mission and purpose must be defined in the school's charter and charter contract as approved by the sponsor and as allowed by ESSA. However, it is required that the racial composition of the charter school enrollment reflect that of the local school district in which the charter school is located or that of the targeted student population of the local school district that the charter school proposes to serve, to be defined for the purposes of this chapter as differing by no more than twenty percent from that population. This requirement is also subject to the provisions of Section 59-40-70(D). 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 sponsor. 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 with mission-aligned preference and the process clearly described in their charter and charter contract approved by their sponsor, and there is no appeal to the sponsor;
(8) 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; a charter school may give enrollment priority to 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. A public charter school shall give enrollment preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous school year. An enrollment preference for returning students excludes those students from entering into a lottery. A charter school also may give priority to children of a charter school employee and children of the charter committee, if priority enrollment for children of employees and of the charter committee does not constitute more than twenty percent of the enrollment of the charter school. 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 sponsor and as allowed by ESSA. In addition, a charter school 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 also may 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;
(9) 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. A choice of the membership of the board must take place 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 school. Parents or guardians shall have one vote for each student enrolled in the charter school. 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;
(10) 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 sponsor of any regular meeting of the board at least forty-eight hours prior to the date on which it is to occur;
(11) 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, employees of the charter school board 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.
(C)(1) If a charter school denies admission to a student, the student may appeal the denial to the sponsor. 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.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 447, Section 2; 2002 Act No. 341, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 274, Section 1, eff May 3, 2006; 2008 Act No. 239, Section 9, eff May 21, 2008; 2012 Act No. 164, Section 6, eff May 14, 2012; 2013 Act No. 29, Section 1, eff May 21, 2013; 2015 Act No. 83 (H.4084), Sections 1.A, 1.B, eff June 11, 2015; 2016 Act No. 219 (S.1262), Section 1, eff June 3, 2016.
Effect of Amendment
The 2006 amendment rewrote subsections (B) and (C) and added subsections (D) and (E) relating to transportation of students.
The 2008 amendment in subsection (B)(8) substituted "however" for "provided, however, that", added "or previously enrolled", and substituted "if such priority" for "provided their".
The 2012 amendment inserted "or a public or independent institution of high learning sponsor" in subsections (B)(1) and (B)(4); inserted "or contract for," in subsection (B)(6); inserted ", except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school" in subsection (B)(7); rewrote subsections (B)(8), (B)(9), (B)(10), and (C).
The 2013 amendment, in subsection (B)(8), added the second, fourth, and fifth sentences, relating to enrollment preference and priority.
2015 Act No. 83, Sections 1.A, 1.B, in (B)(6), inserted ", including a school leader," and added (B)(11).
2016 Act No. 219, Section 1, rewrote (B)(7), providing that alternative education campuses may give mission-aligned admissions preferences to certain educationally disadvantaged students, and providing related definitions, procedures, and criteria; and in (B)(8), added the fifth sentence, relating to mission-aligned preference.