Opinion ID: 1302174
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: attorney general's appeal

Text: The Attorney General intervened when this case was pending on appeal to the circuit court in order to challenge the constitutionality of the racial composition requirement of the Charter Schools Act found in § 59-40-50(B)(6), which provides: (B) A charter school shall: . . . (6) admit all children eligible to attend public school in a school district who are eligible to apply for admission to a charter school operating in that school district, subject to space limitations. However, under no circumstances may a charter school enrollment differ from the racial composition of the school district by more than ten percent. If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students shall be accepted by lot, and there is no appeal to the sponsor. (emphasis added). The Attorney General asserted the underscored provision violates equal protection. See Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200, 115 S.Ct. 2097, 132 L.Ed.2d 158 (1995); City of Richmond v. Croson, 488 U.S. 469, 109 S.Ct. 706, 102 L.Ed.2d 854 (1989) (classification based solely on race is subject to strict scrutiny, even when it is a benign or remedial racial classification); see also Wygant v. Jackson Bd. of Educ., 476 U.S. 267, 106 S.Ct. 1842, 90 L.Ed.2d 260 (1986) (applying strict scrutiny). The circuit court declined to address the issue for two reasons: 1) the issue was not raised below and 2) the issue need not be addressed because other grounds for denying the application were supported by the evidence. An administrative agency must follow the law as written until its constitutionality is judicially determined; an agency has no authority to pass on the constitutionality of a statute. South Carolina Tax Comm'n v. South Carolina Tax Bd. of Review, 278 S.C. 556, 299 S.E.2d 489 (1983). Accordingly, neither the Beaufort Board nor the State Board could have addressed the constitutional issue which was therefore properly raised for the first time in circuit court. Further, although technically a ruling on the constitutionality of this provision was not necessary to the immediate disposition of the case before the circuit court, we find judicial economy dictates otherwise. Lighthouse joined the Attorney General in contesting the constitutionality of the racial composition provision. As acknowledged by the circuit court, Lighthouse may re-apply for a charter upon correcting the deficiencies noted by the Beaufort Board. Having raised the issue, Lighthouse is entitled to know whether it must satisfy the racial composition requirement before reapplying. Accordingly, we remand this issue to the circuit court to address whether § 59-40-50(B)(6) violates equal protection. AFFIRMED AND REMANDED. FINNEY, C.J., TOAL, WALLER, and BURNETT, JJ., concur.