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Bill 10

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      10
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  20010110
Primary Sponsor:                  Jackson
All Sponsors:                     Jackson, Ford
Drafted Document Number:          l:\s-res\dj\007char.jh.doc
Residing Body:                    Senate
Current Committee:                Education Committee 04 SED
Subject:                          Charter schools, noncertified teachers; 
                                  hire in same proportion as public schools; 
                                  Schools and School Districts


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  20010110  Introduced, read first time,           04 SED
                  referred to Committee


              Versions of This Bill

TO AMEND SECTION 59-40-50 OF THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF CHARTER SCHOOLS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT CHARTER SCHOOLS SHALL HIRE NONCERTIFIED TEACHERS IN THE SAME PROPORTION AS ALLOWED FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND TO DELETE THE PROVISION AUTHORIZING CHARTER SCHOOLS TO HIRE NONCERTIFIED TEACHERS IN RATIOS OF UP TO TEN PERCENT OR TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT, AS APPLICABLE, OF THE ENTIRE TEACHER STAFF OF THE SCHOOL.

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

SECTION 1. Section 59-40-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-40-50. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a charter school is exempt from all provisions of law and regulations applicable to a public school, a school board, or a district, although a charter school may elect to comply with one or more of these provisions of law or regulations.

(B) A charter school shall:

(1) adhere to the same health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights requirements as are applied to public schools operating in the same school district;

(2) meet, but may exceed, the same minimum student attendance requirements as are applied to public schools operating in the same district;

(3) adhere to the same financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as are applied to public schools operating in the same school district;

(4) be considered a school district for purposes of tort liability under South Carolina law, except that the tort immunity shall not include acts of intentional or wilful racial discrimination by the governing body or employees of the charter school. Employees of charter schools shall be relieved of personal liability for any tort or contract related to their school to the same extent that employees of traditional public schools in their school district are relieved;

(5) in its discretion hire noncertified teachers in a ratio of up to twenty-five percent of its entire teacher staff; however, if it is a converted charter school, it shall in its discretion hire noncertified teachers in a ratio of up to ten percent of its entire teacher staff. Part-time noncertified teachers shall be considered pro rata in calculating this percentage based on the hours which they are expected to teach hire noncertified teachers in the same propotion as allowed for public schools;

(6) admit all children eligible to attend public school in a school district who are eligible to apply for admission to a charter school operating in that school district, subject to space limitations. However, under no circumstances may a charter school enrollment differ from the racial composition of the school district by more than ten percent. If the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building, students shall be accepted by lot, and there is no appeal to the sponsor;

(7) not limit or deny admission or show preference in admission decisions to any individual or group of individuals; provided, however, that a charter school may give enrollment priority to a sibling of a pupil already enrolled and children of a charter school employee;

(8) elect its governing body annually. All employees of the charter school and all parents or guardians of students enrolled in the charter school shall be eligible to participate in the election. Parents or guardians of a student shall have one vote for each student enrolled in the charter school. At all times, the governing body of the charter school shall include one or more teachers;

(9) be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, including the charter school and its governing body.

(C)(1) If a charter school denies admission to a student, the student may appeal the denial to the school board of trustees. The decision shall be binding on the student and the charter school.

(2) If a charter school suspends or expels a student, the school district shall have the authority but not the obligation to refuse admission to the student.

(3) The sponsor shall have no obligation to provide extracurricular activities or access to facilities of the school district for students enrolled in the charter school."

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

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