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H. 3897

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Loftis, Davenport, Limehouse, Haskins, Bannister, Frye, Hamilton, Harrison, Leach, Mulvaney, Owens, M.A. Pitts, Rice, Scarborough, Shoopman, Spires and Mahaffey
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22719sj07.doc

Introduced in the House on April 17, 2007
Currently residing in the House Committee on Education and Public Works

Summary: Public schools

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   4/17/2007  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-14
   4/17/2007  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works HJ-14
   5/17/2007  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Mahaffey

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/17/2007

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-1-380 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL IN THIS STATE SHALL PROVIDE A PUBLIC FORUM, SUBJECT TO REASONABLE TIME, PLACE, AND MANNER RESTRICTIONS, WHERE GROUPS OR ORGANIZATIONS MAY MEET AND DISCUSS CERTAIN ISSUES OF THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH THEY RESIDE, TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY ESTABLISH CERTAIN FEES FOR THE USE OF ITS SCHOOL BUILDING FACILITIES, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE GROUP MAY BE CHARGED FOR ANY DAMAGES AND FURTHER USE OF THE FACILITIES MAY BE DENIED.

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

SECTION    1.    Article 5, Chapter 1, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-1-380.    (A)    Each public school in this State shall provide a public forum, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, where groups or organizations may meet and discuss civic, educational, political, economic, artistic, literary, musical, scientific, recreational, religious, and moral issues of the communities in which they reside.

(B)    The board of trustees of a school district shall authorize the use of public school facilities or grounds to groups or organizations including, but not limited to:

(1)    citizen groups;

(2)    parent-teacher associations;

(3)    Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, or Girl Scouts;

(4)    Good News Clubs, Awanas Clubs, or other clubs that provide services or civic, educational, political, artistic, religious, or moral opportunities or training for school-age children and are free and open to the public;

(5)    4-H Clubs;

(6)    farmers' organizations;

(7)    school-community advisory councils;

(8)    senior citizens' organizations; and

(9)    childcare or recreational activities, including the YMCA.

(C)    This forum must be made available during noninstructional time, on a first-come-first-served, space-available basis, provided that the school has first priority in use of the facilities. As used in this section, "noninstructional time" means time outside of the school class hours, either before actual classroom instruction begins or after actual classroom instruction ends or when school is not in session.

(D)    Except as otherwise provided by law, the board of trustees of the school district may establish fees for the use of its school building facilities in the following categories:

(1)    groups or organizations may use school facilities at no cost provided the use is:

(a)    not for profit;

(b)    directed to school-age children; and

(c)    open to the public.

(2)    groups or organizations may be charged costs directly associated with the use of utilities and janitorial or custodian fees provided the use is:

(a)    not for profit;

(b)    not directed towards or primarily limited to school-age children; and

(c)    open to the public.

(3)    groups or organizations may be charged costs directly associated with the use of utilities and janitorial or custodian fees plus a reasonable usage fee provided the use is:

(a)    commercial or primarily for the sale of goods or services; or

(b)    not open to the public.

(E)    If a group activity results in the destruction of school property, the group may be charged for an amount necessary to repay the damages, and further use of the facilities may be denied at the discretion of the school district board of trustees if the circumstances warrant future denial of use."

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

This web page was last updated on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 1:36 P.M.