The application and follow-up documentation is severely lacking. The Young Parents Academy was a proposed charter school for teen parents in the Orangeburg 5 area. The school was designed to provide a challenging academic environment for young teenage parents as well as provide daycare, preschool and kindergarten for their children. The State Board concurred with the Orangeburg 5 board's determination that the number of students who had expressed interest in the school was not sufficient for the project to be economically feasible. Since that ruling in itself determined the outcome of the appeal, the State Board did not address the remaining issues in the case.
Charter schools receive public funds but are free from most state regulations.
The State Department of Education helps groups comply with the requirements of state law in completing applications to create charter schools.