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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
February 18, 2003
S. 250
L. Printed 2/18/03--S. [SEC 2/19/03 11:10 AM]
Read the first time January 22, 2003.
TO ESTABLISH GOVERNANCE CRITERIA AND REVISE THE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF THE CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, TO ABOLISH THE EIGHT CONSTITUENT DISTRICT BOARDS OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES IN CHARLESTON COUNTY AND TO DEVOLVE THEIR POWERS, DUTIES, ASSETS, AND LIABILITIES UPON THE CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION OF CHARLESTON COUNTY IS THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE DISTRICT, WHO SHALL HIRE ALL DISTRICT PERSONNEL, INCLUDING TEACHERS, AND WHO SHALL HIRE AREA SUPERINTENDENTS TO CONSULT WITH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AND TO ACT AS INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN THE PRINCIPALS AND THE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE DISTRICT SHALL CONSIST OF NINE MEMBERS WHO MUST BE ELECTED IN PARTISAN ELECTIONS FROM DEFINED SINGLE-MEMBER ELECTION DISTRICTS BEGINNING IN 2004, TO PROVIDE FOR THE TERMS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD SO ELECTED, AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER PROCEDURAL MATTERS IN REGARD TO THE ELECTION OF THESE MEMBERS; AND TO REPEAL ACT 340 OF 1967, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE CHARLESTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT AND VARIOUS DUTIES OF THE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT AND THE BOARD.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The General Assembly by the provisions of this act has determined to revise the governance structure of the Charleston County School District using as a guide the following governance principles:
(1) the school board is a unit, which speaks with one voice or none;
(2) the school board serves the district's ownership, the people of Charleston County;
(3) the school board defines and delegates; it does not react or ratify;
(4) the school board makes policy decisions;
(5) the school board's policy determinations go from broad to narrow;
(6) the school board's primary role is determining the district's goals;
(7) the school board sets operating parameters for the district superintendent but it does not prescribe means;
(8) the school board sets its own processes and policies to ensure effective board performance;
(9) the school board empowers the district superintendent and requires accountability;
(10) the school board measures the superintendent's performance against appropriate evaluation criteria, with student achievement as the first and most important criteria.
SECTION 2. (A) The eight constituent district boards of school trustees in Charleston County are abolished and their powers, duties, assets, and liabilities are devolved upon the Charleston County School District Board of Trustees.
(B) The board of trustees also shall further delineate the roles and responsibilities of school governance councils, school improvement councils, and other school-based advisory councils to avoid duplicating responsibilities and to maximize the contributions of the boards and councils.
SECTION 3. The Superintendent of Education of Charleston County shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Charleston County School District (generally known as the Charleston County School Board) to serve pursuant to such terms and conditions as the board may prescribe. He or she shall be selected on the basis of professional qualifications as determined by the board of trustees, and which qualifications need not include experience or certification as an education administrator. The Superintendent of Education of the Charleston County School District, in addition to the duties imposed upon county superintendents of education by the general laws of the State shall serve as the chief executive officer of the district and shall implement the policies established by the board for the district. He or she shall hire all personnel necessary to conduct the business of the district, including teachers, and shall perform such other duties as shall be prescribed by the Board of Trustees of the Charleston County School District. The legal exercise of power or duty by the superintendent may be overridden by the board only by a two-thirds vote of the membership of the board.
SECTION 4. (A) The governing body of the Charleston County School District must be a board known as the Charleston County School Board. The board shall consist of nine members who, beginning with the 2004 General Election, must be elected in partisan elections in the manner hereinafter specified in this act.
(B) Where a political party chooses to nominate its candidates by the primary election method, the dates of the primary election, and run-off election, if necessary, shall be the same as for other offices filled by that party at their primary. The election laws of this State also shall govern the manner in which the partisan elections for these offices shall be conducted, including selection of candidates, conduct of elections, declaration of results, and assumption of office. Nothing herein prevents a petition candidate from being included on the general election ballot in the manner allowed by law.
SECTION 5. The members of the board elected at the 2004 General Election shall take office as provided in Section 59-19-315, at which time the terms of the present members of the board shall expire.
SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided herein, the members of the board must be elected at the general election beginning in 2004 for terms of four years. At the 2004 Election, and to provide for staggered terms of office, members of the board must be elected from Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 for terms of four years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Members of the board must be elected from Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 for terms of two years each and until their successors are elected and qualify. Successors to these members must be elected for four-year terms at the general election every two or four years thereafter as appropriate. All members of the board shall serve until their successors are elected and qualify. Nothing in this act shall be construed to alter the staggering of terms established by this section.
At any election the candidate for each seat receiving a majority of the votes shall be deemed elected. Except for the general election, if no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, there shall be a runoff election held two weeks thereafter between the two candidates receiving the greatest number of votes.
The members of the board of trustees shall meet within ten days of their election and shall organize by electing from their number a chairman, vice chairman, and such other officers as they deem necessary. The member elected chairman shall serve as chairman for a term of one year, provided that no chairman is eligible to serve more than two consecutive terms as chairman. All meetings of the board of trustees shall be held in the Office of the Superintendent of Education for the School District of Charleston County or in another location within the county after proper notice to the public. If they so choose, the members of the board shall receive a per diem allowance of twenty-five dollars for meetings actually attended, not exceeding thirty-six meetings in any calendar year, and mileage at the rate established by the Internal Revenue Code for each mile of travel from the place of his residence to and from the meetings. A majority of the board members shall constitute a quorum. Any member who is absent from five consecutive meetings of the board without just cause may be removed from the board upon a majority vote of the members.
A vacancy occurring for any reason other than expiration of a term must be filled by special election for the unexpired portion of the term as provided in Section 7-13-190, unless the vacancy occurs within nine months of the next general election.
SECTION 7. For the purpose of electing members of the Charleston County School Board beginning in 2004, the School District of Charleston County is divided into nine single-member election districts as shown on the official map designated as S-19-00-03 prepared by and on file with the Office of Research and Statistical Services of the State Budget and Control Board, and as shown on certified copies of the official map provided to the State Election Commission and the Charleston County Election Commission by the Office of Research and Statistical Services. These single-member districts must be reapportioned by the General Assembly at the next census after the effective date of this act and every ten years thereafter based on the most recent census.
SECTION 8. One member of the School Board of Charleston County must be elected from each of the nine single-member election districts established by law. Each member of the board must have been a legal resident of the district in which he is elected for a minimum of one year prior to the general election and must be elected by the qualified electors of that district.
The county commissioners of election shall conduct and supervise all elections for members of the board in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The commissioners shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results thereof. The commissioners shall advertise the date of the election sixty days preceding the election in the newspapers of general circulation published in Charleston County and shall publish a second notice two weeks thereafter. The cost of the elections shall be borne by Charleston County.
SECTION 9. In addition to the duties, powers, and responsibilities now provided by law for county boards of education or boards of school trustees, the Board of Trustees of the Charleston County School District shall:
(1) adopt and alter a corporate seal;
(2) establish the mission of the Charleston County School District and determine the benefit to be conferred by the district on what persons and at what cost;
(3) determine, implement, evaluate, and revise as necessary a systematic, comprehensive program of educational services that assures that every child has maximum educational opportunities so that every child meets at least the minimum standard at each grade level established by the State subject to modification for professionally assessed and documented disabilities;
(4) hire a superintendent to serve as chief executive officer of the school district;
(5) not less than annually, establish objective educational goals for which the superintendent shall be responsible and evaluate the superintendent based on how well the school system achieves those goals;
(6) prescribe the policies within the limits of which, reasonably interpreted by the superintendent, he shall operate the district;
(7) borrow in anticipation of the collection of taxes, state aid, or federal aid. The borrowing must be in the form of notes, maturing not later than one year from the date of issue, bearing the rate of interest as the board determines. The notes must be payable, both principal and interest, from the funds in anticipation of the receipt of which they are issued, and to the payment of the principal of and interest on the notes for which the funds are pledged;
(8) authorize the purchase and sale of land, and evaluate the superintendent's execution of the maintenance and repair of existing buildings and grounds, and provide long-range planning for educational programs and physical facilities;
(9) provide educational programs for special needs children organized and conducted in cooperation with the social or civic organizations and agencies in the county or community; provide for intellectually gifted children's programs which shall challenge their talents;
(10) keep an accurate record of board proceedings, which record must be kept in the office of the superintendent and open to public inspection;
(11) authorize the purchase and sale of land, the planning and construction of new school facilities, and the maintenance and repair of existing buildings and grounds;
(12) adopt a system of budgetary controls and annually adopt a budget, with power to revise when necessary, sufficient to meet the educational needs of the district;
(13) adopt an ongoing and systematic process of evaluation and analysis to determine the cost effectiveness of instructional and other programs implemented by the school district and cause to be made such changes as are indicated by the evaluation. Exclusive of reports and evaluations specifically protected under confidentiality statutes, all evaluations of instructional and other programs will immediately be made available to the public;
(14) cause to be conducted an annual audit of the financial affairs of the district, the results of the audit to be reported to the public. One copy of each audit must be kept in the office of the board, and one copy must be filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County, to be open to the public;
(15) engage as a board not less than annually in an ongoing program of board development and training in policy governance and effective board operations; and
(16) ensure that the school district at every level complies with both the letter and the intent of all statutes, regulations, and directives that pertain to the engagement of parents and the broader community in the process of public education.
SECTION 10. In order to obtain funds for school purposes the board is authorized to impose an annual tax levy. The board shall hold a public hearing on the budget at least two weeks before its adoption for the purpose of receiving input to and answering questions about the budget. Notice of a public hearing must be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and shall state the date, time, and place of the hearing as well as a clearly worded statement of the requested annual tax levy. Upon certification by the board to the county auditor of the tax levy to be imposed, the auditor shall levy and the county treasurer shall collect the millage so certified upon all taxable property in the district. The Board of Trustees of the Charleston County School District shall prepare and submit to the Charleston County Legislative Delegation, as information, on or before the fifteenth day of July of each year the budget for the ensuing school year.
SECTION 11. The Board of Trustees of the Charleston County School District shall make an annual written report to the county legislative delegation within sixty days of receipt of PACT results, the purpose of such report being to provide information on the rate and extent of improvement in the education effectiveness of the public schools of Charleston County. Information in the report must be limited to student achievement data and must compare student achievement from one year to the next, in both the aggregate and disaggregate. The categories for reporting data in the disaggregate shall be the same as required pursuant to federal reporting requirements. The report is not limited only to PACT results but shall include other relevant and timely measures of student performance such as SAT, ACT, and Exit Exam results. Reports shall be made until such time as the county legislative delegation terminates this requirement by simple majority vote at any duly constituted meeting of the delegation.
SECTION 12. Act 340 of 1967, as and if amended, is repealed.
SECTION 13. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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