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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO CHAPTER 23, TITLE 59 SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT BEGINNING JULY 1, 2004, A PLAN FOR A NEW EDUCATIONAL FACILITY MUST BE A PLAN FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL, TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION, TO PROVIDE THAT A SCHOOL THAT DOES NOT MEET THE DEFINITION OF A NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL SHALL SUBDIVIDE INTO SCHOOLS-WITHIN-A-SCHOOL, AND TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS TO ELIMINATE MINIMUM ACREAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOOL SITE SELECTION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) South Carolina's schools are too large.
(2) Our current policies encourage the construction of massive, isolated schools that are inaccessible to the communities they serve.
(3) These remotely sited mega schools deprive students of a quality education and accelerate developmental sprawl into our rural areas.
(4) Rather than walking or biking to a neighborhood school, many students spend more time on a bus than they do with their families.
(5) One of the keys to improving education is a sense of community where teacher, student, and parent feel a sense of ownership in their school.
(6) Neighborhood schools are smaller schools that provide benefits of reduced discipline problems and crime, reduced truancy and gang participation, reduced dropout rates, improved teacher and student attitudes, improved student self-perception, student academic achievement equal to or superior to that of students at larger schools, and increased parental involvement. (7) Neighborhood schools can provide these benefits while not increasing administrative and construction costs.
SECTION 2. Chapter 23, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-23-510. As used in this article:
(1) 'Neighborhood school' means:
(a) an elementary school with a student population of not more than five hundred students;
(b) a middle school with a student population of not more than seven hundred students;
(c) a high school with a student population of not more than nine hundred students;
(d) a school serving kindergarten through eighth grade with a student population of not more than seven hundred students; (e) a school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade with a student population of not more than nine hundred students; or
(f) a school on a single campus that operates as a school-within-a-school, if each smaller unit located on the single campus meets the definition of a neighborhood school.
(2) 'School-within-a-school' means an operational program that uses flexible scheduling, team planning, and curricular and instructional innovation to organize groups of students with groups of teachers as smaller units, so as to operate functionally as a smaller school. Examples of this operational program include, but are not limited to:
(a) An organizational arrangement assigning both students and teachers to smaller units in which the students take some or all of their coursework with their fellow grouped students and from the teachers assigned to the smaller unit. A unit may be grouped together for one year or on a vertical, multiyear basis.
(b) An organizational arrangement similar to that described in subitem (a) with additional variations in instruction and curriculum. The smaller unit usually seeks to maintain a program different from that of the larger school or of other smaller units. It may be organized vertically, but is dependent upon the school principal for its existence, budget, and staff.
(c) A separate and autonomous smaller unit formally authorized by the district school board or superintendent of schools. The smaller unit plans and runs its own program, has its own staff and students, and receives its own separate budget. The smaller unit must negotiate the use of common space with the larger school and defer to the building principal on matters of safety and building operation.
Section 59-23-520. Beginning July 1, 2004, a plan for a new educational facility to be constructed within a school district must be a plan for a neighborhood school. This section does not apply to a plan for a new educational facility already under architectural contract on July 1, 2004.
Section 59-23-530. Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, the State Department of Education shall adopt policies for a school that does not meet the definition of a neighborhood school to subdivide into schools-within-a-school, which must operate within existing resources.
Section 59-23-540. The State Department of Education shall promulgate regulations to eliminate minimum acreage requirements for school site selection by July 1, 2004.
Section 59-23-550. The State Department of Education shall comply with health, safety, and construction regulations and other regulations applicable to the implementation of the provisions of this article."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 9:39 A.M.