Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

March 29, 2023

H. 3843

Introduced by Reps. Erickson, Bradley, W. Newton, Hager, Ballentine, Elliott, Caskey, Wooten, Bannister, Herbkersman, Willis, M.M. Smith and Williams

S. Printed 03/29/23--H.                                                                         [SEC 3/31/2023 3:01 PM]

Read the first time January 31, 2023

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 59-63-25 SO AS TO PROVIDE AN OPEN ENROLLMENT OPTION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS; BY AMENDING SECTIONs 59-63-30 AND 59-63-32, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT AND PENALTIES FOR PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION, and SECTION 59-63-480, RELATING TO ATTENDANCE AT SCHOOLS IN ADJACENT COUNTIES, all SO AS TO MAKE CONFORMING CHANGES; AND BY REPEALING SECTION 59-63-500 RELATING TO TRANSFER WITHOUT CONSENT OF SCHOOL DISTRICT OF RESIDENCE.

    Amend Title To Conform

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

SECTION 1.  Article 1, Chapter 63, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

    Section 59-63-25.  (A) Beginning with the 2023-2024 School Year, each local board of trustees shall follow the policy and procedures established pursuant to this section for extending open enrollment opportunities that allow parents to apply for their child to enroll in any particular program or school.

    (B) Using a template developed and provided by the Department of Education and approved by the State Board of Education, each local board of trustees shall develop and adopt an open enrollment policy based on its evaluation of available data reflecting student, school, district, and community needs. The board shall ensure that the policy developed and data used to develop the policy and related procedures are posted prominently on the district website, and the board shall provide the department with its policy in a web posting format.

       (1) The open enrollment policy and process must:

           (a) adhere to federal desegregation and other educational requirements;

           (b) identify and describe the application requirements, timeline, and communication plan;

           (c) allow parents to declare school preferences, including placement of siblings within the same school;

           (d) describe lottery and wait list policies and an appeal process for adverse decisions;

           (e) include the policies adopted by the board regarding capacity standards, standards of approval and denial, priorities of acceptance for enrollment, and transportation;

           (f) include a disclosure of:

               (i) whether the district will charge nonresident students a fee to cover costs associated with their enrollment that are not covered by federal or state funding. Such costs shall not exceed the local per pupil expenditure amount in the receiving school district;

               (ii) itemized fees, including the amount of each fee, charged by the district to nonresident students to cover the costs associated with their enrollment that are not covered by federal and state funding; and

               (iii) whether the district has a mitigation or fee waiver process, and a description of such process for any fees charged under this section; and

           (g) include a component addressing public awareness of open enrollment opportunities, accessing data on the open enrollment capacity of a school, the district application process and timeline, and written procedures for notification of acceptance or denial of an application.

       (2) In implementing the provisions of this section, a school district may, but is not required to:

           (a) make alterations in the structure of a requested school or to the arrangement or function of rooms within a requested school;

           (b) establish and offer any particular program in a school if such program is not currently offered in the school;

           (c) alter or waive any established eligibility criteria for participation in a particular program, including age requirements, course prerequisites, and required levels of performance;

           (d) expand the capacity of a program or school for the purpose of accommodating increased demand for open enrollment opportunities so long as the expansion does not result in exceeding State Board of Education regulations concerning professional personnel workload, including maximum student-teacher ratios and maximum daily teaching loads;

           (e) provide transportation to a student accepted pursuant to this section who is attending a school outside of the attendance zone of their residence; however, nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit the district from providing bus transportation on an approved route, from requesting state or federal funds for this purpose, or from entering into an agreement with another district to provide transportation; or

           (f) have more than one open enrollment application deadline for intra-district applications or for inter-district applications. Applications shall be accepted at least once per school year with the application deadline published for at least thirty days. A district may establish one or more subsequent deadlines as may be reasonable and necessary and in conformance with this section.

       (3) In complying with this section, a school district is not required to transfer local funds for a student enrolling in a nonresident school district.

       (4) The State Board of Education through the State Superintendent of Education shall establish a standard inter-district open enrollment timeline for parents and districts to follow.

    (C)(1) In implementing the provisions of this section, a student who meets one or more of the following criteria must not be displaced by a student transferring from outside the attendance zone:

           (a) currently resides in the attendance zone of a school;