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A219, R247, S1262
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senator Alexander
Document Path: l:\s-res\tca\061char.dmr.tca.docx
Companion/Similar bill(s): 5230
Introduced in the Senate on April 21, 2016
Introduced in the House on May 26, 2016
Last Amended on May 24, 2016
Passed by the General Assembly on June 2, 2016
Governor's Action: June 3, 2016, Signed
Summary: Charter schools
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number
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4/21/2016 Senate Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 6)
4/21/2016 Senate Referred to Committee on Education
(Senate Journal-page 6)
5/18/2016 Senate Recalled from Committee on Education
(Senate Journal-page 5)
5/19/2016 Scrivener's error corrected
5/24/2016 Senate Amended (Senate Journal-page 58)
5/24/2016 Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 58)
5/24/2016 Senate Roll call Ayes-41 Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 58)
5/25/2016 Scrivener's error corrected
5/25/2016 Senate Read third time and returned to House with amendments
(Senate Journal-page 13)
5/26/2016 House Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 69)
5/26/2016 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works
(House Journal-page 69)
5/31/2016 House Recalled from Committee on Education and Public Works
(House Journal-page 21)
6/1/2016 House Read second time (House Journal-page 78)
6/1/2016 House Roll call Yeas-98 Nays-0 (House Journal-page 78)
6/2/2016 House Read third time and enrolled (House Journal-page 7)
6/2/2016 Ratified R 247
6/3/2016 Signed By Governor
6/9/2016 Effective date 06/03/16
6/9/2016 Act No. 219
View the latest legislative information at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
4/21/2016
5/18/2016
5/19/2016
5/24/2016
5/25/2016
5/31/2016
(A219, R247, S1262)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 59-40-50, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS DESIGNATED AS ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CAMPUSES, SO AS TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CAMPUSES MAY GIVE MISSION-ALIGNED ADMISSIONS PREFERENCES TO CERTAIN EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS, AND TO PROVIDE RELATED DEFINITIONS, PROCEDURES, AND CRITERIA; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-40-111, RELATING TO CATEGORIES OF ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CAMPUSES, SO AS TO INCLUDE CHARTER SCHOOLS WITH THE EXPLICIT MISSION AND PURPOSE OF SERVING ENROLLED STUDENT POPULATIONS OF WHICH AT LEAST FIFTY PERCENT DEMONSTRATE CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL DISADVANTAGES, AND TO REVISE MISSION AND STUDENT POPULATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE STANDARDS APPLICABLE TO ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CAMPUSES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Mission-aligned admissions preferences for certain educationally disadvantaged students
SECTION 1. Section 59-40-50(B)(7), as last amended by Act 164 of 2012, and (8), as last amended by Act 29 of 2013, of the 1976 Code is further amended to read:
"(7) admit all children eligible to attend public school to a charter school, subject to space limitations, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school or, in the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, with an explicit mission and purpose of specializing in providing evidence-based, specific educational or behavioral health services for educationally disadvantaged students with a demonstrated need for such services. Demonstrated need may include, but not be limited to, as documented in an Individualized Education Program (IEP), 504 plan, a medical or psychological diagnosis, or documentation that the student is not meeting grade-specific standards in literacy as documented by the student's school. For purposes of this section, educationally disadvantaged students are those students as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Evidence-based services must include, but are not limited to, services to students who need evidence-based, specialized, multi-sensory instruction in literacy or other services included in the students' IEP or 504 plan. This specialized mission and purpose must be defined in the school's charter and charter contract as approved by the sponsor and as allowed by ESSA. However, it is required that the racial composition of the charter school enrollment reflect that of the local school district in which the charter school is located or that of the targeted student population of the local school district that the charter school proposes to serve, to be defined for the purposes of this chapter as differing by no more than twenty percent from that population. This requirement is also subject to the provisions of Section 59-40-70(D). If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students must be accepted by lot, and there is no appeal to the sponsor. In the case of a charter school designated as an Alternative Education Campus, pursuant to Section 59-40-111, that is serving educationally disadvantaged students, if the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students may be accepted by weighted lot as allowed by ESSA with mission-aligned preference and the process clearly described in their charter and charter contract approved by their sponsor, and there is no appeal to the sponsor;
(8) 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; a charter school may give enrollment priority to 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. A public charter school shall give enrollment preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous school year. An enrollment preference for returning students excludes those students from entering into a lottery. A charter school also may give priority to children of a charter school employee and children of the charter committee, if priority enrollment for children of employees and of the charter committee does not constitute more than twenty percent of the enrollment of the charter school. 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. 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;"
Categories expanded, considerations for accountability and academic performance standards revised
SECTION 2. Section 59-40-111 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 288 of 2014, is amended to read:
"Section 59-40-111. (A) For purposes of this chapter, an Alternative Education Campus (AEC) is any charter school with an explicit mission and purpose as outlined in its charter to serve an enrolled student population with:
(1) severe limitations that preclude appropriate administration of the assessments administered pursuant to federal and state requirements;
(2) fifty percent or more of students having Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in accordance with federal regulations or a demonstrated need for specific services or specialized instruction as defined in Section 59-40-50, and the school shall provide the needed evidence-based specialized instruction, interventions, services, support, and accommodations based on the needs of the students; or
(3) eighty-five percent or more of enrolled students meeting the definition of a 'high-risk' student including students who:
(a) have been adjudicated as juvenile delinquents or who are awaiting disposition of charges that may result in adjudication;
(b) have dropped out of school or who have not been continuously enrolled and regularly attending any school for at least one semester before enrolling in this school;
(c) have been expelled from school or who have engaged in behavior that would justify expulsion;
(d) have documented histories of personal drug or alcohol use or who have parents or guardians with documented dependencies on drugs or alcohol;
(e) have documented histories of personal street gang involvement or who have immediate family members with documented histories of street gang involvement;
(f) have documented histories of child abuse or neglect;
(g) have parents or guardians in prison or on parole or probation;
(h) have documented histories of domestic violence in the immediate family;
(i) have documented histories of repeated school suspensions;
(j) are under the age of twenty years who are parents or pregnant women;
(k) are homeless, as defined in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; or
(l) have a documented history of a serious psychiatric or behavioral disorder including, but not limited to, an eating disorder or a history of suicidal or self-injurious behaviors.
(B) Such schools must be classified as AECs by their sponsor.
(C) A high-poverty rating alone shall not qualify any charter school for status as an AEC.
(D) Charter school applicants seeking such a designation shall provide sufficient information in their charter application to allow the authorizer to make a determination as to whether that classification applies.
(E) Charter schools already in operation may seek AEC classification by petitioning their sponsor.
(F) Charter schools receiving an AEC designation either before or after opening, shall be held to applicable state and federal accountability standards along with the academic performance standards and expectations established by written agreement between the sponsor and the school that takes into account the school's specialized mission and student population with comparisons to any available nationally normed data with similar subsets of students and is included in their annual report in accordance with Section 59-40-140(H) and is included in the school report card compiled by the Education Oversight Committee."
Time effective
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Ratified the 2nd day of June, 2016.
Approved the 3rd day of June, 2016.
This web page was last updated on June 28, 2016 at 4:25 PM