South Carolina H 3862: Charter school enrollment preferences

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3862 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 29, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3862

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

Indicates Matter 
Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

April 29, 2025

H. 3862

Introduced 
by Reps. Erickson, G. M. Smith, Gilliam, Mitchell and M. M. Smith 

S. Printed 4/29/25--S.

Read the first time February 18, 2025

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 59-40-50, RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PREFERENCES, SO AS TO 
REVISE CRITERIA FOR ADMISSIONS PREFERENCES, AND TO ADD PROVISIONS CONCERNING 
STUDENTS WITH MULTIPLE ENROLLMENT PREFERENCES.

 Amend Title To Conform

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

SECTION 1. Section 59-40-50(B)(8) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (8)(a) 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 or as allowed by subitems (b) and (c).;

 (b) A charter school must give 
preference to students enrolled in the public charter school the previous year. 

 (c) A charter school may give 
enrollment prioritypreference 
to any of the following by enrolling the student without 
requiring participation in a lottery when a lottery is otherwise required under 
this chapter:

 (i) 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.

 (ii) a child or children of any 
employee of the charter school or member of the charter school committee, 
provided that the number of students eligible for this preference may not 
exceed twenty percent of the school's total enrollment;

 (iii) dependents of active-duty 
members of the military residing or stationed in this State, limited to not 
more than ten percent of the school's total enrollment except for schools 
meeting the provisions of subitem(f). Dependents of active-duty military 
members are subject to the enrollment provisions of Section 59-63-33.

 (d) A student eligible for multiple 
enrollment preferences may be enrolled based on only one of the preferences, at 
the charter school's discretion. A student eligible for an enrollment 
preference that is denied the enrollment preference because the charter school 
has exceeded the number of enrollment preferences allowed must be permitted to 
participate in any enrollment lottery held by the school for the year the 
enrollment preference is denied.

 (e) 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.

 (f) 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;

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

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This web page was last updated on April 29, 2025 at 07:05 PM