Charter school enrollment preferences, the official text

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A47, R66, H3862)

AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 59-40-50, RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOL ADMISSIONS, SO AS TO REVISE ADMISSIONS PREFERENCE CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES, AND TO ADD PROVISIONS CONCERNING STUDENTS WITH MULTIPLE ENROLLMENT PREFERENCES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Enrollment preference criteria revisions

SECTION 1. Section 59-40-50(B)(8) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

(8)(a) not limit or deny admission or show preference in admission decisions to any individual or group of individuals, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school, in which case gender may be the only reason to show preference or deny admission to the school or as allowed by subitems (b) and (c).

(b) A charter school must give preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous year.

(c) A charter school may give enrollment preference to any of the following by enrolling the student without requiring participation in a lottery when a lottery is otherwise required under this chapter:

(i) a sibling of a pupil currently enrolled and attending, or who, within the last six years, attended the school for at least one complete academic year;

(ii) a child or children of any employee of the charter school or member of the charter school committee, provided that the number of students eligible for this preference may not exceed twenty percent of the school's total enrollment;

(iii) dependents of active-duty members of the military residing or stationed in this State, limited to not more than ten percent of the school's total enrollment except for schools meeting the provisions of subitem (f). Dependents of active-duty military members are subject to the enrollment provisions of Section 59-63-33.

(d) A student eligible for multiple enrollment preferences may be enrolled based on only one of the preferences, at the charter school's discretion. A student eligible for an enrollment preference that is denied the enrollment preference because the charter school has exceeded the number of enrollment preferences allowed must be permitted to participate in any enrollment lottery held by the school for the year the enrollment preference is denied.

(e) In the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, mission-aligned preference may be given to educationally disadvantaged students as specifically defined in their charter and charter contract approved by their sponsor and as allowed by ESSA.

(f) In addition, a charter school located on a federal military installation or base where the appropriate authorities have made buildings, facilities, and grounds on the installation or base available for use by the charter school as its principal location also may give enrollment priority to otherwise eligible students who are dependents of military personnel living in military housing on the base or installation or who are currently stationed at the base or installation not to exceed fifty percent of the total enrollment of the charter school. This priority is in addition to the other priorities provided by this item, but no child may be counted more than once for purposes of determining the percentage makeup of each priority;

Time effective

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 8th day of May, 2025.

Approved the 12th day of May, 2025.

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