South Carolina H 5156: Parker McInerney

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5156 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 11, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5156

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 ENACTING THE 
"FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IN K-12 TECHNOLOGY PLANNING ACT" BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO 
CHAPTER 23, TITLE 59 so as TO REQUIRE LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES TO EVALUATE AND 
CONSIDER TOTAL OWNERSHIP COSTS AND FLEXIBILITY FOR INNOVATION AND ACCESSIBILITY 
WHEN ACQUIRING TECHNOLOGY, TO MANDATE ANNUAL REPORTING OF SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY 
DEVICE BREAK/FIX RATES AND RELATED DATA, AND TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF 
EDUCATION TO COMPILE AND REPORT STATEWIDE FINDINGS, PROMULGATE RELATED 
REGULATIONS, AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT, AMONG OTHER THINGS.

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

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Fiscal Responsibility in K-12 Technology 
Planning Act."

SECTION 2. Chapter 23, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

Article 5

Fiscal Responsibility in K-12 Technology Planning

 Section 
59-23-510. For the purposes of this article:

 (1) 
"Break/fix rate" means the percentage obtained by dividing the number of school 
technology devices reported as malfunctioning or needing repair due to physical 
damage, hardware failure, or other breakage incidents prior to the stated life 
cycle period, not covered by insurance or a policy plan period, by the total 
number of school technology devices in operation during that period.

 (2) 
"School technology device" means any electronic or computerized equipment 
provided for educational purposes in a public school, including computers, 
tablets, interactive whiteboards, and similar devices or anything considered a 
digital device for purposes of a K-12 technology report by the State Board of 
Education required in Section 59-23-520(C).

 (3) 
"Total cost of ownership assessment" means an assessment that, for the expected 
performance period or useful life of the school technology device being 
assessed, considers all of the following, as applicable:

 (a) 
the cost of acquisition, including purchase price or lease payments;

 (b) 
the cost of deployment and configuration, including device setup, imaging, 
enrollment, and integration with existing systems;

 (c) 
the cost of operation and management, including licensing, subscriptions, 
device management, security, and connectivity;

 (d) 
the cost of maintenance, support, damage repair, and warranties or protection 
plans;

 (e) 
the cost of necessary training for staff to use and support the technology;

 (f) 
any anticipated downtime or disruption to instruction or operations reasonably 
associated with the use or failure of the technology;

 (g) 
any anticipated residual, resale, or salvage value at the end of the 
technology's expected performance period, including value realized through a 
trade-in or buyback program, and net of reasonable transaction costs; and

 (h) 
any other factors the State Board of Education determines to be relevant to 
achieving best value over the life of the technology.

 Section 
59-23-520. (A) All local education 
agencies, including charter authorizers, to evaluate the following when 
acquiring technology, computer hardware and software:

 (1) 
the total cost of ownership assessment;

 (2) 
any flexibility for innovation and accessibility during the life of the 
technology, computer hardware or software;

 (3) 
any anticipated resale or salvage value at the end of the target life cycle for 
the technology, computer hardware or software based on the average resale or 
salvage value of similar technology, computer hardware or software as a 
percentage of the initial cost of purchase; and

 (4) 
the security of the technology, including protection of pupil and employee data 
and the ability to maintain timely security updates.

 (B) 
By August 15, 2027 and annually before every August fifteenth thereafter, each 
local education agency, to include charter school authorizers, shall submit a 
report to the State Board of Education. The initial report must include data 
from the 2026-2027 School Year and contain the following information:

 (1) 
the break/fix rate of the school technology devices in the local education 
agency for the previous school year;

 (2) 
the total number of school technology devices currently in operation in the 
local education agency;

 (3) 
the total number of school technology devices in the local education agency 
requiring repair that underwent repair or were no longer in service during the 
previous school year;

 (4) 
the total amount of funds spent to repair or replace school technology devices 
during the previous school year; and

 (5) 
the above items disagg