2013 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 59 - Education
CHAPTER 40 - CHARTER SCHOOLS
SECTION 59-40-110. Duration of charter; renewal; termination.

(A) A charter must be approved or renewed for a period of ten school years; however, the charter only may be revoked or not renewed under the provisions of subsection (C) of this section. The sponsor annually shall evaluate the conditions outlined in subsection (C). The annual evaluation results must be used in making a determination for nonrenewal or revocation.

(B) A charter renewal application must be submitted to the school's sponsor, and it must contain:

(1) a report on the progress of the charter school in achieving the goals, objectives, pupil achievement standards, and other terms of the initially approved charter application; and

(2) a financial statement that discloses the costs of administration, instruction, and other spending categories for the charter school that is understandable to the general public and that allows comparison of these costs to other schools or other comparable organizations, in a format required by the State Board of Education.

(C) A charter must be revoked or not renewed by the sponsor if it determines that the charter school:

(1) committed a material violation of the conditions, standards, or procedures provided for in the charter application;

(2) failed to meet or make reasonable progress, as defined in the charter application, toward pupil achievement standards identified in the charter application;

(3) failed to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management; or

(4) violated any provision of law from which the charter school was not specifically exempted.

(D) At least sixty days before not renewing or terminating a charter school, the sponsor shall notify in writing the charter school's governing body of the proposed action. The notification shall state the grounds for the proposed action in reasonable detail. Termination must follow the procedure provided for in this section.

(E) The existence of another charter granting authority must not be grounds for the nonrenewal or revocation of a charter. Grounds for nonrenewal or revocation must be only those specified in subsection (C) of this section.

(F) The charter school's governing body may request in writing a hearing before the sponsor within fourteen days of receiving notice of nonrenewal or termination of the charter. Failure by the school's governing body to make a written request for a hearing within fourteen days must be treated as acquiescence to the proposed action. Upon receiving a timely written request for a hearing, the sponsor shall give reasonable notice to the school's governing body of the hearing date. The sponsor shall conduct a hearing before taking final action. The sponsor shall take final action to renew or not renew a charter by the last day of classes in the last school year for which the charter school is authorized.

(G) A charter school seeking renewal may submit a renewal application to another charter granting authority if the charter school has not committed a material violation of the provisions specified in subsection (C) of this section and the sponsor refuses to renew the charter. In such cases, the charter school shall continue to receive local funding pursuant to Section 59-40-140(A). However, the charter school is not eligible to receive one hundred percent of the base student cost from the State. The charter school only is eligible to receive the percentage of the base student cost previously received as a school in its former district.

(H) A decision to revoke or not to renew a charter school may be appealed to the Administrative Law Court pursuant to the provisions of Section 59-40-90.

HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 447, Section 2; 2002 Act No. 341, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 274, Section 1, eff May 3, 2006; 2008 Act No. 239, Sections 1, 7, eff May 21, 2008; 2012 Act No. 164, Section 10, eff May 14, 2012.