South Carolina H 5311: Adaptive Kindergarten Readiness Program

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5311 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 04, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5311

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
59-40-53 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A SEPARATE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET FOR CHARTER 
SCHOOLS IN INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS AND TO PROVIDE POSTSEASON RANKING, 
SEEDING, AND ELIGIBILITY PROCEDURES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 59-40-50, RELATING 
TO REQUIREMENTS FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS, SO AS TO MAKE A CONFORMING CHANGE.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 40, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
59-40-53. (A) Notwithstanding 
another provision of law or any rule of the South Carolina High School League, 
charter schools that are members of the South Carolina High School League shall 
compete in a separate state championship playoff bracket for postseason 
interscholastic athletic competition as provided in this section. Charter 
schools are ineligible to participate in other postseason interscholastic 
competitions.

 (B) 
Charter schools shall compete in their assigned regions during the regular 
season in accordance with rules of the South Carolina High School League. For 
postseason competition in team sports designated by the league, all qualifying 
charter schools shall be placed in a combined statewide charter school 
championship playoff bracket separate from all other member schools.

 (C)(1) To qualify for the charter school 
state championship playoff bracket, a charter school must:

 (a) 
participate in a region schedule established by the league; and

 (b) 
meet the minimum number of contests for the applicable sport as determined by league 
regulation.

 (2) 
Charter school region champions shall automatically qualify for the charter 
school state championship playoff bracket.

 (3) 
All qualifying charter schools shall be seeded pursuant to the postseason 
ranking formula provided in subsection (D).

 (D)(1) The South Carolina High School 
League shall utilize a uniform postseason ranking formula to determine seeding 
for charter schools in applicable team sports. The formula must assign a 
numerical ranking score to each qualifying charter school based upon the 
following components:

 (a) 
Winning Percentage (WP), calculated by dividing a team's weighted wins by the 
total number of contests played. The League shall establish weight values for 
home, away, neutral site, and contests against nonmember schools. This 
component shall account for thirty-five percent of the final ranking score;

 (b) 
Opponents' Winning Percentage (OWP), determined by calculating the average 
winning percentage of each opponent, excluding contests played against the team 
being evaluated. This component shall account for thirty-five percent of the 
final ranking score; and

 (c) 
Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage (OOWP), determined by calculating the 
average opponents' winning percentage of each opponent. This component shall 
account for thirty percent of the final ranking score.

 (2) 
The League shall publish the formula methodology, formula weighting values, and 
resulting rankings on its official website.

 (E) In 
the event of identical ranking scores, ties must be broken in the following 
order:

 (1) 
head-to-head result;

 (2) 
higher winning percentage;

 (3) 
higher opponents' winning percentage;

 (4) 
higher opponents' opponents' winning percentage;

 (5) 
coin toss or other neutral method established by League regulation.

 (F) 
Charter schools shall comply with all scheduling, score-reporting, and 
data-submission requirements established by the league. All contests against league 
member schools must be included in ranking calculations, regardless of 
classification. Charter school athletes participating in interscholastic 
athletic competition, including postseason competition under this section, must 
meet the academic eligibility requirements of Section 59-39-160.

 (G) 
The South Carolina High School League shall promulgate rules consistent with 
this section to ensure uniform implementation beginning with the next 
reclassification cycle following July 1, 2026.

SECTION 2. Section 59-40-50(C)(3)(a) of the S.C. Code is amended 
to read:

 (a) A charter school is eligible for 
federally sponsored, state-sponsored or district-sponsored interscholastic 
leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, grants, and recognition programs 
for students, educators, administrators, staff, and schools to the same extent 
as all other public schools, subject to the provisions of 
Section 59-40-53 regarding postseason playoffs.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor and applies beginning with the next League reclassification 
cycle followi