S.C. Code Ann. § 59-40-70 – Charter School Advisory Committee; appointment of members; review of charter school applications

(A) The Charter School Advisory Committee must be established by the State Board of Education to review charter school applications for compliance with established standards that reflect the requirements and intent of this chapter. Members must be appointed by the State Board of Education unless otherwise indicated.
1. (1) The advisory committee shall consist of eleven members as follows:
  1. (a) South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools, the president or his designee and one additional representative from the association;
  2. (b) South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the executive director or his designee;
  3. (c) South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the executive director or his designee and one additional representative from the chamber;
  4. (d) South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, the chair or a business designee;
  5. (e) South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the chair or his designee;
  6. (f) South Carolina School Boards Association, the executive director or his designee;
  7. (g) South Carolina Alliance of Black Educators, the president or his designee; and
  8. (h) one teacher and one parent to be appointed by the State Superintendent of Education.
2. (2) As an application is reviewed, a representative from the board of trustees from which the committee is seeking sponsorship and a representative of the charter committee shall serve on the advisory committee as ex officio nonvoting members. If the applicant indicates a proposed contractual agreement with the local school district in which the charter school is located, a representative from the local school board of trustees of that district shall serve on the advisory committee as an ex officio, nonvoting member.
3. (3) Appointing authorities shall give consideration to the appointment of minorities and women as representatives on the committee.
4. (4) The committee shall establish bylaws for its operation that must include terms of office for its membership.
5. (5) An applicant shall submit the application to the advisory committee and one copy to the school board of trustees of the district from which it is seeking sponsorship. In the case of the South Carolina Public Charter School District, the applicant shall provide notice of the application to the local school board of trustees in which the charter school will be located for informational purposes only. The advisory committee shall receive input from the school district in which the applicant is seeking sponsorship and shall request clarifying information from the applicant. An applicant may submit an application to the advisory committee at any time during the fiscal year and the advisory committee, within sixty days, shall determine whether the application is in compliance. An application that is in compliance must be forwarded to the school district from which the applicant is seeking sponsorship with a letter stating the application is in compliance. The letter also shall include a recommendation from the Charter School Advisory Committee to approve or deny the charter. The letter must specify the reasons for its recommendation. This recommendation is nonbinding on the school board of trustees. If the application is in noncompliance, it must be returned to the applicant with deficiencies noted. The applicant may appeal the decision to the State Board of Education.
(B) The school board of trustees from which the applicant is seeking sponsorship shall rule on the application for a charter school in a public hearing, upon reasonable public notice, within thirty days after receiving the application. If there is no ruling within thirty days, the application is considered approved. Once the application has been approved by the school board of trustees, the charter school may open at the beginning of the following year. However, before a charter school may open, the State Department of Education shall verify the accuracy of the financial data for the school within forty-five days after approval.
(C) A school district board of trustees only shall 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, as defined in regulation, the other students in the district in which the charter school is to be located. It shall provide, within ten days, a written explanation of the reasons for denial, citing specific standards related to provisions of Section 59-40-50 or 59-40-60 that the application violates. This written explanation immediately must be sent to the charter committee and filed with the State Board of Education and the Charter School Advisory Committee.
(D) In the event that the racial composition of an applicant's or charter school's enrollment differs from the enrollment of the local school district in which the charter school is to be located or the targeted student population of the local school district by more than twenty percent, despite its best efforts, the school district board of trustees from which the applicant is seeking sponsorship shall consider the applicant's or the charter school's recruitment efforts and racial composition of the applicant pool in determining whether the applicant or charter school is operating in a nondiscriminatory manner. A finding by the school district board of trustees that the applicant or charter school is operating in a racially discriminatory manner justifies the denial of a charter school application or the revocation of a charter as provided in this section or in Section 59-40-110, as may be applicable. A finding by the school district board of trustees that the applicant is not operating in a racially discriminatory manner justifies approval of the charter without regard to the racial percentage requirement if the application is acceptable in all other aspects.
(E) If the school district board of trustees from which the applicant is seeking sponsorship denies a charter school application, the charter applicant may appeal the denial to the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 59-40-90.
(F) If the school district board of trustees approves the application, it becomes the charter school's sponsor and shall sign the approved application, which constitutes a contract with the charter committee of the charter school. A copy of the charter must be filed with the State Board of Education.
(G) If a local school board of trustees has information that an approved application by the South Carolina Public Charter School District adversely affects the other students in its district, as defined in regulation, or that the approval of the application fails to meet the spirit and intent of this chapter, the local school board of trustees may appeal the granting of the charter to the State Board of Education. The state board, within forty- five days, may affirm or reverse the application for action by the South Carolina Public Charter School District in accordance with an order of the state board. The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations outlining procedures for this type of appeal.