2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 59 - Education › Chapter 18 - Education Accountability Act › Section 59-18-1640. State-of-education emergency declarations for districts.

(A) The State Superintendent of Education may seek a state-of-education emergency declaration for a district that he has the capacity to serve under the following circumstances:
(1) the district is identified as underperforming for three consecutive years;
(2) the district's accreditation is denied;
(3) the Superintendent of Education determines that a district's turnaround plan results are insufficient; or
(4) the district is classified as being in a fiscal emergency status pursuant to Section 59-20-90, or financial mismanagement resulting in a deficit has occurred.
(B) If the State Superintendent of Education determines that a district state-of-education emergency declaration is justified, then he must request that the State Board of Education meet to approve or disapprove the declaration and cite the circumstances justifying that the district has failed to satisfactorily address circumstances. The State Board of Education must meet within ten days of the request to approve or disapprove the declaration.
(C) Upon the approval of a state-of-education emergency, the State Superintendent of Education shall:
(1) notify the Governor and the appropriate district superintendent, local school board, and local legislative delegation; and
(2) assume management of the district and all schools in the district.
(D) The local district board may, upon a majority vote, appeal the State Board of Education's approval of the declaration to the Administrative Law Court within ten business days of receipt of the notice of the declaration. A request for a hearing must be made in accordance with the court's rules; provided, however, that a request for a contested case hearing for an emergency declaration does not stay the declaration.
(E)(1) The local district board of trustees shall be dissolved upon the State Board of Education's approval of the state-of-education emergency declaration and upon the expiration of the ten-business-day appeal window as provided in subsection (D).
(2)(a) Once a district subject to subsection (C) has met annual targets identified in the district's revised strategic plan for sustained improvement for a minimum of three consecutive years, the State Superintendent of Education shall submit to the State Board of Education documentation of such. The State Board of Education shall approve that an interim local district board of trustees be appointed. The interim local district board of trustees shall consist of five members appointed in the following manner with a chairman elected by the appointees:
(i) one member appointed by the Governor;
(ii) one member appointed by the local legislative delegation; and
(iii) three members appointed by the State Superintendent of Education in consultation with the local legislative delegation.
(b) All appointees must be residents of the school district for which the interim appointments are being made. In making appointments to the interim local district board of trustees, the appointing authority shall consider knowledge and experience in the field of education and also shall take into account race, gender, and other demographic factors, such as residence in a rural or urban area, so as to represent, to the greatest extent possible, all segments of the population of the affected district. However, consideration of these factors in making an appointment in no way creates a cause of action or basis for an employee grievance for a person appointed or for a person who fails to be appointed. The members of the interim local district board of trustees shall represent the educational needs of the district.
(c) The interim local district board shall be appointed to begin serving within forty-five days of the State Board of Education's approval of the appointments of the interim local district board and shall serve for a minimum of three years.
(d) Any vacancy shall be filled in the original manner of appointment.
(3) For a minimum of three years and until the State Board of Education votes to end the state-of-education emergency, the interim local district board shall remain in place, and its appointed members shall continue to serve.
(F)(1) Upon an affirmative vote by the State Board of Education to end the state-of-education emergency, the department, in consultation with the district and interim board, shall develop a transition plan and timeline for returning management of the district to a local board of trustees. Beginning with the next regularly scheduled election, members for the local district board of trustees will be elected or appointed pursuant to statutory requirements.
(2) Upon the swearing in of a new local district board of trustees, the declaration of a state-of-education emergency shall expire, and the powers and duties of the district superintendent and local district school board of trustees are restored.
(G) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a district in a state-of-education emergency pursuant to this section shall have its fiscal authority relating to taxing authority and levying millage transferred to its county council until the state-of-education emergency is lifted. The county council may not exceed millage limitations established pursuant to Section 6-1-320 or otherwise established prior to the state-of-education emergency declaration.
HISTORY: 2021 Act No. 44 (S.201), Section 1, eff July 1, 2022.