2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 59 - Education › Chapter 40 - Charter Schools › Section 59-40-60. Charter application; revision; formation of charter school; charter committee; application requirements.

(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, responsibilities, and performance expectations for each party to the contract. A contract must include the proposed enrollment procedures and dates of the enrollment period of the charter school. All agreements regarding the release of the charter school from school district policies must be contained in the contract. The Department of Education shall develop a contract template to be used by charter schools and the sponsor. The template must serve as a foundation for the development of a contract between the charter school and the sponsor.
(C) A material revision of the terms of the contract between the charter school and the sponsor may be made only with the approval of both parties.
(D) Except as provided in subsection (F), an applicant who wishes to form a charter school shall:
(1) organize the charter school as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the laws of this State;
(2) form a charter committee for the charter school which includes one or more teachers; and
(3) submit a letter of intent and a written charter school application to the board of trustees or area commission from which the committee is seeking sponsorship.
(E) A charter committee is responsible for and has the power to:
(1) submit a letter of intent and an application to operate as a charter school, sign a charter school contract, and ensure compliance with all of the requirements for charter schools provided by law;
(2) employ and contract with teachers and nonteaching employees, contract for services, and develop pay scales, performance criteria, and discharge policies for its employees. All teachers whether certified or noncertified must undergo the background checks and other investigations required for certified teachers, as provided by law, before they may teach in the charter school; and
(3) decide all other matters related to the operation of the charter school, including budgeting, curriculum, and operating procedures.
(F) The charter school application, based on an application template with compliance guidelines developed by the State Department of Education, must include:
(1) an executive summary, not to exceed two pages;
(2) the mission statement of the charter school, which must be consistent with the principles of the General Assembly's purposes pursuant to Section 59-40-20;
(3) the goals, objectives, and academic performance standards to be achieved by the charter school, and a description of the charter school's admission policies and procedures;
(4) evidence that an adequate number of parents or legal guardians with students eligible to attend the proposed school pursuant to Section 59-40-50 support the formation of a charter school and justify the projected per pupil allocation in the application budget;
(5) a description of the charter school's educational program, including how it will meet or exceed the academic performance standards and expectations, including academic standards adopted by the State Board of Education and how the instructional design, learning environment, class size and structure, curriculum, and teaching methods enable each pupil to achieve these standards;
(6) a description of the charter school's plan for evaluating pupil achievement and progress toward accomplishment of the school's achievement standards in addition to state assessments, the timeline for meeting these standards, and the procedures for taking corrective action if that pupil achievement falls below the standards;
(7) evidence that the plan for the charter school is economically sound, a proposed budget for the term of the charter, a description of the manner in which an annual audit of the financial and administrative operations of the charter school, including any services provided by the sponsor, is to be conducted;
(8) a description of the governance and operation of the charter school, including a detailed school start-up plan, resumes and background information on the charter committee members, the capacity and experience of the school leadership and management team, any involvement with the replication of existing successful public charter schools, any proposed management company or educational service provider responsibilities, and the nature and extent of parental, professional educator, and community involvement in the governance and operation of the charter school;
(9) a description of how the charter school plans to ensure that the enrollment of the school is similar to the racial composition of the local school district in which the charter school is to be located or the targeted student population of the local school district that the charter school proposes to serve and provide assurance that the school does not conflict with any school district desegregation plan or order in effect for the school district in which the charter school is to be located;
(10) a description of how the charter school plans to meet the transportation needs of its pupils;
(11) a description of the building, facilities, and equipment and how they shall be obtained;
(12) an explanation of the relationship that shall exist between the proposed charter school and its employees, including a staffing chart aligned with the budget and student enrollment projections, descriptions of evaluation procedures, and evidence that the terms and conditions of employment have been addressed with affected employees;
(13) a description of a reasonable grievance and termination procedure, as required by this chapter, including notice and a hearing before the governing body of the charter school. The application must state whether or not the provisions of Article 5, Chapter 25, Title 59 apply to the employment and dismissal of teachers at the charter school;
(14) a description of student rights and responsibilities, including behavior and discipline standards, and a reasonable hearing procedure, including notice and a hearing before the board of directors of the charter school before expulsion;
(15) an assumption of liability by the charter school for the activities of the charter school and an agreement that the charter school must indemnify and hold harmless the sponsor, its servants, agents, and employees, from any and all liability, damage, expense, causes of action, suits, claims, or judgments arising from injury to persons or property or otherwise which arises out of the act, failure to act, or negligence of the charter school, its agents and employees, in connection with or arising out of the activity of the charter school; and
(16) a description of the types and amounts of insurance coverage to be obtained by the charter school.
(G) Nothing in this section shall require a charter school applicant to provide a list of prospective or tentatively enrolled students or prospective employees with the application.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 447, Section 2; 2002 Act No. 341, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 274, Section 1, eff May 3, 2006; 2012 Act No. 164, Section 7, eff May 14, 2012; 2014 Act No. 288 (H.3853), Section 3, eff June 12, 2014.
Effect of Amendment
The 2006 amendment, in subsection (B), deleted "local" preceding "school district policies"; in subsection (D), in paragraph (3), substituted "charter school advisory committee and the" for "local" and "from which the committee is seeking sponsorship" for "for the school district in which the charter school is to be located"; and, in subsection (F), in paragraph (4) substituted "State Board of Education and the chartering district" for "school district in which the charter school is located" and rewrote paragraph (8).
The 2012 amendment removed ", and the terms must be the terms of a contract" from subsection (A); rewrote subsection (B); substituted "to the board of trustees or area commission" for "the school board of trustees"; in subsection (D)(3); removed "shall be a proposed contract and" from subsection (F); substituted "sponsor" for "chartering district" in subsection (F)(4); substituted "sponsor" for "school district" in subsections (F)(6) and (F)(14); made other, nonsubstantive, changes throughout.
2014 Act No. 288, Section 3, rewrote subsections (D), (E), and (F).