South Carolina H 3245: Public school sports participation by private and charter school students

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3245 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3245

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 AMENDING 
SECTION 59-63-100, RELATING TO PRIVATE SCHOOL AND CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENT 
PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOL INTERSCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES SO AS TO PROVIDE 
LIMITED SITUATIONS IN WHICH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO ATTEND A PRIVATE OR 
CHARTER SCHOOL MAY PARTICIPATE IN HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE SPORTS OFFERED AT PUBLIC 
HIGH SCHOOLS, AND TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS.

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

SECTION 
1.A. Section 59-63-100 of the S.C. Code is amended 
by adding:

 (G)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of 
this section, individual students who attend private or charter schools in this 
State may not be denied by a public school district the opportunity to try out 
for and, if selected, participate in an interscholastic athletic program 
offered at a public school in the district if the:

 (a) 
student resides within the attendance zone boundaries of the public school;

 (b) 
private or charter school that the student attends is not a member of the South 
Carolina High School League;

 (c) 
private or charter school attended by the student does not offer the particular 
sport for the student's gender;

 (d) 
particular sport in which the student seeks to participate is offered at the 
public school located in the attendance zone where the student resides;

 (e) 
student notifies the superintendent of the public school district in writing of 
his intent to try out in the particular sport as a representative of the public 
school before the beginning date of the season for the sport in which he wishes 
to try out;

 (f) 
student pays for all sport-specific fees charged by the public school for an 
individual student to participate in the particular sport; and

 (g) 
student meets all public school district eligibility requirements with the 
exception of the:

 (i) 
school district's school or class attendance requirements; and

 (ii) class and enrollment 
requirements of the association administering the interscholastic sports.

 (2) 
A public school district may not contract with a private entity that supervises 
interscholastic athletic programs if the private entity prohibits the 
participation of private or charter school students in interscholastic athletic 
programs supervised by the entity.

 (3) 
Eligibility requirements for new students to participate in interscholastic 
athletics shall be no more restrictive in language or application than the 
rules or policies of the association, body, or entity that were in effect on 
January 1, 2025.

B. Section 59-63-100(A) of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 (5) "Private school" means a school:

 (a) 
established by an entity other than the State or a subdivision of the State;

 (b) 
supported primarily by private or nonpublic funds; and

 (c) 
operated by private individuals operating in their private capacity and not by 
people who are publicly elected or appointed to operate the school.

 (6) "Charter school" means a school 
established pursuant to Chapter 40, Title 59 of the S.C. Code.

SECTION 2. The 
provisions of this act shall not be construed as imputing any public school 
academic, athletic, or extracurricular policies or procedures to any private or 
charter school that a student attends if that student also participates in a 
public high school league sport pursuant to the terms of this act outside of 
the requirements related to maintaining a certain grade-point average and grade 
level for participating in and attending regularly scheduled practices of the 
sports team.

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 11:04 AM