South Carolina H 4590: Purple Star School Program

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4590 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 17, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4590

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 59-46-60 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOUTH 
CAROLINA PURPLE STAR SCHOOL PROGRAM, TO PROVIDE FOR AN APPLICATION PROCESS, AND 
TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISPLAY OF THE PURPLE STAR SCHOOL DESIGNATION.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 46, Title 59 of the 
S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 Section 
59-46-60. (A) The compact 
commissioner shall establish a nonmonetary South Carolina Purple Star School 
Program pursuant to this section in order to achieve the following three goals:

 (1) Reduce the burden on 
military-connected students and their families by articulating critical 
transition supports for military-connected students and their families through 
statewide partnership support.

 (2) Publicly recognize and designate 
school districts and school campus-based sites, public charter schools, private 
schools, homeschools, DoDEA schools, or any educational facility that educates 
or provides services to military-connected students that meet certain 
requirements through a Purple Star School designation criteria. Meeting Purple 
Star School designation criteria requirements shall signal which school 
districts and school campus-based sites are the most committed and best 
equipped to meet military-connected students and their families' unique needs.

 (3) Establish statewide universal 
Military Student Identifier collection protocol for South Carolina public 
schools to include public charter schools, private schools, homeschools, DoDEA 
schools, or any educational facility that educates or provides services to 
military-connected students.

 (B)(1) The compact commissioner shall 
develop an application process that provides annual opportunities for school 
districts and school campus-based sites to earn the Purple Star School 
designation by demonstrating compliance with the application criteria adopted 
pursuant to item (2) with final approval of the compact commissioner and 
assistance through the compact commissioner appointed Purple Star School 
Committee.

 (2) The compact commissioner shall 
adopt application criteria for school districts and school campus-based sites 
seeking the Purple Star School designation. The department shall consider, as 
part of the application criteria, a requirement that a school district or 
school campus-based site complete the following four South Carolina Purple Star 
School designation requirements:

 (a) military liaison, which ensures 
military-connected students are identified and properly coded through a MSI 
(Military Student Identifier), serves as the point of contact between the 
military community to assist with transitions in and out of the school, 
supports student-led transition programs, attends an annual professional 
development or training including, but not limited to, the enrollment process, 
records transfer, community resources, and student support, with a recommended 
three to five hours, annually, coordinates an annual professional development 
or training to a suggested seventy percent of faculty and staff members on 
relevant military-connected student issues, and provides case by case 
transition assistance to incoming and outgoing students and signals inclusion 
for extracurricular activities and sports;

 (b) professional development, which 
serves seventy percent of faculty and staff members on relevant 
military-connected student issues through an annual professional development or 
training, recommended training, and community partnership opportunities including, 
but not limited to:

 (i) Military Interstate Children's 
Compact 101 and 201 Training; or

 (ii) MCEC Purple Star School 
Professional Development PD for education professionals;

 (c) webpage for military families which 
provides an easily navigable webpage for military support and inclusion to 
incoming families and centralizes critical state and local community transition 
information and resources. The webpage includes, but is not limited to:

 (1) relocation information;

 (2) Military Interstate Children's 
Compact;

 (3) support services and resources; and

 (4) school district and school 
campus-based military liaison contact information; and

 (d) campus-based student-led transition 
program, which assists incoming students to acclimate to a new campus and 
community with ongoing connections in the school, participates in organizing 
and hosting new student events, facilitates guided campus tours, accompanies 
new students to lunch during the first week of school, and is actively 
sponsored and supported by a campus-based milita