Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Charter Schools topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee adopts amendments to charter-school bill, revises virtual-instruction and authorizer rules
Summary
A legislative education committee adopted amendments to S 454 that change authorizer duties, move a charter-board election deadline, remove a fixed 25% asynchronous cap for virtual schools, and add several accountability and grandfathering provisions; the amendment passed on a 13–0–1 vote with four absences.
A South Carolina legislative committee on education adopted a major amendment to S 454, a charter-school bill, after a staff-led review and extended member questions.
The committee’s chair opened with a description of the work behind the amendment and asked staffer Pierce McNair to walk members through changes. McNair said the formal amendment (new language highlighted) moved the election deadline for serving on a charter board from Aug. 1 to Nov. 1, removed a prior restriction that a higher-education authorizer "may not engage in any activities other than acting as a sponsor," and instead requires that a higher-education authorizer be in good standing with its accrediting body and be able to authorize schools. He also noted edits allowing a local authorizer to lease buildings or provide food and transportation to sponsored schools, and several clarifications on how funds transfer for schools authorized after 07/01/2027.
The amendment also revised the virtual-school section. McNair said the earlier bill language that set a fixed 25 percent asynchronous threshold was struck and replaced by a new Section G that focuses on ensuring students have daily access to certified teachers and appropriately scheduled synchronous-instruction opportunities. McNair explained how attendance and participation are to be counted and said asynchronous instruction may include a range of supports.
The chair framed the changes as accountability measures, citing recent cases in which a nonprofit authorizer and the closure of Limestone University created confusion about access to funds: "we still don't have the ability to access the funds that were distributed to that nonprofit board to pay the teachers," she said, using Limestone as an example of why tighter safeguards are needed.
Other technical edits in the amendment include removing language that would have required a charter-management organization that owns school land to offer a purchase to the charter after five years; adding that a charter must be approved or renewed for at least five but no more than 10 school years; and a grandfather clause describing how transfers operate for local-authorizer-authorized schools after 07/01/2027.
After discussion and a brief clarification on a stray struck line in the definitional section, the committee voted to adopt the amendment. The clerk recorded a roll call of 13 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstention and 4 members absent; the chair announced, "The amendment is adopted."
What happens next: The committee moved on after adopting the amendment and placed the bill "on the bill as amended." Any further floor action or votes would occur as the bill moves through the legislative calendar.
Sources: Committee proceedings and staff summary presented by Pierce McNair.
