South Carolina H 3200: School board meeting transparency

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3200 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3200

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 
59-19-85 SO AS TO PROMOTE PUBLIC ACCESS TO SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS BY REQUIRING 
SCHOOL BOARDS TO ADOPT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES THAT PROVIDE LIVE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION 
OF SUCH MEETINGS, TO EXTEND APPLICABILITY OF THESE PROVISIONS TO THE GOVERNING 
BODIES OF CHARTER SCHOOLS AND SPECIAL SCHOOLS, TO PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY IN 
CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, AND TO PROVIDE RELATED REQUIREMENTS OF THE STATE BOARD 
OF EDUCATION; AND TO PROVIDE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT MUST BE IMPLEMENTED 
BEFORE JULY 1, 2027.

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

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 19, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 59-19-85. (A) Each public school governing body, 
including the governing bodies of charter schools and special schools, must 
make reasonable and necessary efforts to ensure the entirety of meetings of its 
regularly scheduled or special called meetings of its full governing body are 
open and accessible to the public and also available by means of live 
electronic access, such as livestream transmission, except during a lawful 
executive session.

 (B) If 
a governing body cannot provide such live electronic public access despite 
making reasonable and necessary efforts to restore livestream transmission 
during the meeting, it must make a clear audio and video recording of the 
meeting in its entirety available on its website as soon as practicable and in 
no event more than two business days after the meeting. 

 (C) 
The State Board of Education shall adopt, and revise as necessary, a model 
livestream meeting policy suitable for governing bodies of public schools, 
including charter and special schools, to comply with provisions in this 
section. The policy must include, at a minimum:

 (1) 
resources, recommendations, and best practices facilitating requirements for 
all portions of streamed meetings to be visible and audible in real time and 
subsequently posted on applicable websites within two business days of the 
meeting;

 (2) 
suggested approaches for developing and implementing livestreaming and 
expanding or improving existing livestream capacity;

 (3) 
publicizing availability of livestream meetings;

 (4) 
allowances for executive sessions;

 (5) 
penalties for policy violations or noncompliance not to exceed one percent of 
state funds to the district, charter school, or special school, with escalating 
tiers based on frequency, duration, and severity; and

 (6) 
the process for allowing a governing body with evidence of limited or no 
broadband access to request approval from the State Board of Education for up 
to an additional twelve months to comply with provisions in this section.

 (D)(1) Each public school governing body, 
including the governing bodies of charter schools and special schools, shall 
adopt a local policy applicable to its meetings within three months after 
adoption of the model policy by the State Board of Education. A local policy 
must include, at a minimum, the State Board of Education model policy.

 (2) 
If the State Board of Education adopts a revision to the model policy, then the 
governing body shall adopt and incorporate the revision into its local policy 
within three months after the adoption of the revision by the State Board of 
Education.

 (3) 
A governing body only may adopt or revise its local policy at a regularly 
scheduled meeting, which must be successfully livestreamed.

 (4) 
A governing body may not adopt or follow a livestream policy that prevents or 
impedes in person participation by the public except as may be reasonable and 
necessary for the orderly transaction of its business.

 (5) 
Within thirty days after adoption of a local policy or revision to the policy, 
a governing body shall submit a copy of the policy or revision to the State 
Superintendent of Education for State Board of Education approval.

SECTION 2. The 
provisions of this act must be implemented before July 1, 2027.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on December 06, 2024 at 10:56 AM