South Carolina Code 59-40-65. Online or computer instruction; requirements; enrollment in South Carolina Virtual School Program
(1) provide each student enrolled in the program with a course or courses of online or computer instruction approved by the charter school’s sponsor that must meet or exceed the South Carolina content and grade-specific standards. Students enrolled in the program of online or computer instruction must receive all instructional materials required for the student’s program;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 59-40-65
- charter school: means a public, nonreligious, nonhome-based, nonprofit corporation forming a school that operates by sponsorship of a public school district, the South Carolina Public Charter School District, or a public or independent institution of higher learning, but is accountable to the board of trustees, or in the case of technical colleges, the area commission, of the sponsor which grants its charter. See South Carolina Code 59-40-40
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Sponsor: means the South Carolina Public Charter School District Board of Trustees, the local school board of trustees in which the charter school is to be located, as provided by law, a public institution of higher learning as defined in § 59-103-5, or an independent institution of higher learning as defined in § 59-113-50, from which the charter school applicant requested its charter and which granted approval for the charter school's existence. See South Carolina Code 59-40-40
(2) ensure that the persons who operate the program on a day-to-day basis comply with and carry out all applicable requirements, statutes, regulations, rules, and policies of the charter school;
(3) ensure that each course offered through the program is taught by a teacher meeting the requirements of § 59-40-50;
(4) ensure that a parent or legal guardian of each student verifies the number of hours of educational activities completed by the student each school year;
(5) adopt a plan by which it will provide:
(a) frequent, ongoing monitoring to ensure and verify that each student is participating in the program, including proctored assessment(s) per semester in core subjects graded or evaluated by the teacher, and at least bi-weekly parent-teacher conferences in person or by telephone;
(b) regular instructional opportunities in real time that are directly related to the school’s curricular objectives, including, but not limited to, meetings with teachers and educational field trips and outings;
(c) verification of ongoing student attendance in the program;
(d) verification of ongoing student progress and performance in each course as documented by ongoing assessments and examples of student coursework;
(6) administer to all students in a proctored setting all applicable assessments as required by the South Carolina Education Accountability Act.
(B) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a charter school that provides a program of online or computer instruction from reimbursing families of enrolled students for costs associated with their Internet connection for use in the program.
(C) A charter school shall provide no more than seventy-five percent of a student’s core academic instruction in kindergarten through twelfth grade via an online or computer instruction program. The twenty-five percent of the student’s core academic instruction may be met through the regular instructional opportunities outlined in subitem (A)(5)(b).
(D) Charter school students may enroll in the Department of Education’s virtual education program pursuant to program requirements.
(E) Private or homeschool students choosing to take courses from a virtual charter school may not be provided instructional materials, or any other materials associated with receiving instruction through a program of online or computer instruction at the state’s expense.
(F) Only students enrolled in the charter school as a full-time student shall be reported in the charter school’s average daily membership to the State Department of Education for the purposes of receiving state or federal funds. Private and homeschool students may not be included in the student weighted pupil units or average daily membership reported to the State Department of Education for the purposes of receiving state or federal funds.