Opinion ID: 1302174
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Grounds for denial of application

Text: The Charter Schools Act provides for a privately organized school to be sponsored and funded by the local school district. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 59-40-70(E) and 140 (Supp.1998). A charter school is exempt from the laws and regulations applicable to public schools except it must: (1) adhere to the same health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights; (2) meet or exceed student attendance requirements; (3) adhere to the same financial audits and procedures; (4) be considered a school district for purposes of tort liability (specifying that tort immunity shall not include acts of intentional racial discrimination); (5) hire non-certified teachers only in specified ratios; (6) admit all children eligible for public school in that school district providing (a) that the charter school's racial composition cannot differ from that of the school district by more than ten percent and (b) if applications exceed capacity, students shall be accepted by lot; (7) show no preference in admission except to siblings and children of employees; (8) elect a governing body annually by specified procedure; (9) be subject to the Freedom of Information Act. See § 59-40-50(B). A charter school application constitutes a proposed contract with the sponsor school district. S.C.Code Ann. § 59-40-60(F) (Supp.1998). Subsections 59-40-60(F)(1) through (15) specify exactly what information must be included in a charter school application. Finally, S.C.Code Ann. § 59-40-70 (Supp.1998) specifies grounds for denial of an application and provides in pertinent part: (C) A local school board of trustees shall only deny an application if the application does not meet the requirements specified in section 59-40-50 or 59-40-60, fails to meet the spirit and intent of this chapter, or adversely affects other students in the district. Lighthouse submitted an application outlining plans for a year-round, eight-hour-per-day school program. The school would be located on Hilton Head Island and would accommodate 400 students in grades K-8. At the Beaufort Board's request, Lighthouse also submitted answers to eighty-four questions.