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Charter schools in South Carolina will soon have the ability to apply for public funds to finance school construction projects, a development that one leading advocate described as a “game changer” for the growing sector.
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The state budget approved last month sets aside $75 million for rural and charter school capital projects and establishes a formal structure for evaluating and prioritizing the facility needs of public schools across the state.
The one-time money, which will be distributed by the South Carolina Department of Education, may only be used to build or improve school buildings whose primary purpose is 4K-12 in-person classroom instruction.
While it’s not the permanent education infrastructure bank state Superintendent Ellen Weaver asked legislators to create, the appropriation represents an important step toward providing meaningful support to schools with limited facility financing options, advocates said.
“This is a one-of-a-kind, unique opportunity that I don’t think our state’s ever had,” said Kevin Mason, executive director of the Public Charter School Alliance of South Carolina. “This really can be a game changer for existing charter schools and newer charter schools, as well.”
Since 2019, the General Assembly has made more than a half-billion dollars available for facility construction in rural districts, but has not previously extended such assistance to charters, which served roughly 65,000 students across the state last year.
Unlike traditional public school districts, charters don’t receive local property tax revenue and can’t issue general obligation bonds to finance the construction and renovation of school buildings.
As a result, many new charters are forced to open in temporary locations, such as churches or shared spaces, and work with private developers or the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority to finance facility upgrades.
In either case, costs are higher and schools must pay for the improvements with money intended to support students in the classroom.
“For too long, many high-performing public charter schools have been expected to achieve exceptional results without equitable access to facility funding,” South Carolina Public Charter School District Superintendent Chris Neeley said in a statement. “By establishing a transparent, merit-based process that rewards academic excellence, prioritizes students with the greatest needs and invests in proven schools, South Carolina is putting kids first.”
The S.C. Department of Education has been tasked with organizing a committee to establish criteria for how the $75 million will be disbursed.
The seven-member committee will be composed of appointees of the governor, state schools chief, House and Senate lawmakers and South Carolina’s largest business trade association.
It will be chaired by an expert in educational facilities and include at least one member with economic development experience, according to guidelines spelled out in the state budget.
State Sen. Sean Bennett, who helped craft the budget measure establishing the committee’s composition and priorities, said it’s essential the body’s members have relevant expertise.
Read more A ‘game changer’: SC sets aside $75M for rural, charter school capital projects
“You’ve got to have people on that committee that have some construction knowledge, have some knowledge of what industry is looking for, what we need in schools, what we don’t need in schools,” the Dorchester Republican said.
While the facility grants committee will be the ultimate arbiter of which schools receive funding, lawmakers have stipulated that preference must be given to applicants that serve low-income areas and have achieved sustained academic success, as measured by state report card ratings.
Charter schools, in particular, will be evaluated on their institutional strength and operational track record, with preference given to nonprofit operators that have been in business more than four years.
“The decision was made on our end, at least initially, to ensure that large capital outlays were going to be provided to schools that had a proven track record,” explained Bennett, who chairs the .
Mason, the charter schools advocate, said he understood lawmakers’ desire for accountability, but would have preferred an awards system with fewer barriers for prospective applicants.
Charter schools that open in temporary spaces rarely wait more than four years to begin establishing permanent facilities, he explained, making it possible that some high-quality operators are disadvantaged by the state’s requirements and remain dependent on alternative funding sources.
That said, Mason believes there are plenty of established charter schools well-positioned to put the state’s facility grants to good use.
And because the guidelines for awarding facility funding aren’t codified in permanent law, legislators will have the freedom to tinker with the process over several budget cycles until they’ve struck the right balance between expanding opportunities and maintaining necessary standards.
Whether the General Assembly continues to fund the facility grants program on a year-by-year basis or creates a permanent education infrastructure bank, as the , is an open question. The coming year will serve as an important test case.
“It all depends on how the program goes,” Mason said. “Are we allocating these funds appropriately, responsibly and are they being used with fidelity?”
Those answers likely won’t be known for several years.
In the meantime, state education officials said they would continue to advocate for the creation of a predictable, recurring source of facility funding for rural and charter schools.
“School facilities are long-term assets,” the Department of Education said in a statement, “and long-term challenges require a sustainable solution.”
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