Starting and running a small school in South Carolina

What the statute requires

• A church-related school needs no approval; a secular one needs an approval the state never defines

  The compulsory attendance section names the schools that count: one “approved by the State Board of Education,” a member of the South Carolina Independent Schools' Association or the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools “or some similar organization,” “a parochial, denominational, or church-related school,” or another State Board-approved program. There is no separate private-school statute, no registration and no licence. The penalty for a parent whose child does not attend is a fine of up to $50 or thirty days, each day a separate offence.

  Where this is unsettled: No regulation or Department page read for this page sets out how the State Board approves a private school. A church-related school or an association member never meets the question. A secular school without an association does, and the ESTF statute makes the § 59-65-10 approval requirement a condition of taking scholarship money, so settle it with the Department before applying.

  S.C. Code § 59-65-10(A); § 59-65-20 · last read 19 October 2026

• Report pupils, attendance and teachers to the county superintendent on request, within two weeks of the session's close

  “All private schools shall report to the county superintendent of education, upon request therefor of the county wherein such school is located, the number of pupils receiving instruction, the number in regular attendance, the number of teachers employed and such other facts as will show the grade and amount of educational work actually done in such private school.” Management that neglects the report “within two weeks after the close of the regular session” faces a fine of up to $25. The attendance article adds that the district takes a census of unenrolled children within thirty days of opening and that “all principals shall report to such attendance supervisor on continuous absences which appear to be unwarranted.” Nothing read for this page requires a private school to keep a daily attendance register; both duties presuppose one.

  S.C. Code § 59-13-130; §§ 59-65-240, 59-65-260 · last read 19 October 2026

• School teachers, counselors and principals are mandated reporters, public or private

  Section 63-7-310(A) lists “school teacher, counselor, principal, assistant principal, school attendance officer” among the persons who must report when, in a professional capacity, they have reason to believe a child has been or may be abused or neglected, with no public-school limitation. A person who reports to a supervisor or the head of school “is not relieved of his individual duty to report,” and an internal investigation does not supersede it. Reports go orally or otherwise to the county Department of Social Services or a law enforcement agency where the child lives or is found.

  S.C. Code § 63-7-310(A), (C), (E) · last read 19 October 2026

What you file, and with whom

• Forty-five days after the school year begins: the School Summary of Student Immunization Status

  “Forty five (45) calendar days after the beginning of each school year, school principals must submit to the local health department, on forms provided by the Department, the numbers of students admitted to school with South Carolina Medical Exemptions, South Carolina Certificates of Religious Exemption, and South Carolina Certificates of Special Exemption.” The Department of Public Health's page says public and private schools complete the School Summary of Student Immunization Status, which counts students adequately protected, and publishes a 45-Day Report of schools with required certification each year. Department representatives audit school records for compliance. The regulation was transferred and renumbered 60-8 when the Department of Public Health took it over in May 2025; the statute still calls it 61-8.

  S.C. Code Regs. 60-8 §§ III–IV (SCSR 49-5, Doc. No. 5352, eff. 23 May 2025); S.C. Department of Public Health, School Vaccination Coverage Data · last read 19 October 2026

What you have to keep

How this part is kept in Pearspark: attendance is a register per school year, immunizations are tracked against the list your state sets, enrollment and withdrawal dates sit on the student record, and each student's permanent records stay retrievable by the family and by a receiving school even if the school closes. How records work.

• No child in without a Certificate of Immunization, a copy in the child's record, and a single 30-day special exemption

  No principal or school board “may admit as a pupil or enroll or retain a child or person who cannot produce satisfactory evidence of having been vaccinated or immunized,” and “records of vaccinations or immunizations must be maintained by the institution, school, or day care facility.” The regulation makes the evidence a South Carolina Certificate of Immunization signed by a licensed physician or an authorised representative, presented on admission and whenever the schedule adds a dose, with a copy kept in the child's record. Exemptions are medical (on the certificate, permanent or temporary), religious (on a certificate obtained only from the local health department), or special: the principal may sign a Certificate of Special Exemption for a transfer student awaiting records or a student unable to get immunised, once, valid thirty calendar days from enrollment. Violation of § 44-29-180 is a misdemeanour, up to $200 or thirty days.

  S.C. Code § 44-29-180(A), (C)–(D); § 44-29-190; S.C. Code Regs. 60-8 §§ I–II · last read 19 October 2026

School-choice program conditions

• The ESTF pays $7,634 for 2026–27 in four quarterly deposits, only to a nonprofit independent school

  The statute set $7,500 per scholarship student for 2025–26 and indexes each later year to “the percentage increase in the average per pupil funding from state sources” unless the appropriations act says otherwise; the Department's 2026–27 Provider Guide states $7,634, deposited in four instalments of $1,908.50 on or before 31 July, 30 September, 31 December and 28 February. An “eligible school” is a South Carolina public school or “a nonprofit South Carolina independent school where a student is enrolled full time,” never a charter school and never a school in which a legislator or a legislator's immediate family has a financial interest; the Guide says independent schools “must be organized as non-profit organizations.” The program is capped at 15,000 students for 2026–27, and the Department closed applications when it reached the cap. A student in the ECENC program is not eligible.

  S.C. Code § 59-8-110(3)–(4); § 59-8-120(C), (E); § 59-8-135; S.C. Department of Education, Education Service Provider Guide 2026–2027 (updated May 2026) · last read 19 October 2026

• Before each quarterly deposit the Department checks the student is not in the resident public school at the 45-, 90-, 135- and 170-day counts

  The trustee pays each account quarterly, first by 31 July. “Prior to depositing each payment into the student's online account, the department shall verify that the student is not enrolled as a full-time student in his resident school using the forty-five, ninety, one hundred thirty-five, and one hundred seventy day student counts and provide that information to the trustee.” The verification is the Department's, against public school membership counts, not a filing by the private school. Providers “may not refund, rebate, or share a student's scholarship funds directly with a parent or the scholarship student,” and parents are never reimbursed for out-of-pocket spending. If a student's program ends and does not resume within thirty days the parent notifies the Department and the balance reverts to the fund; unused money rolls over for a student who re-qualifies.

  S.C. Code § 59-8-120(E)–(G); § 59-8-125(A), (F); § 59-8-130 · last read 19 October 2026

• Provider duties: a seven-field machine-generated invoice, a surety bond at $50,000, background checks, an occupancy permit

  Every education service provider complies with health and safety codes, holds an occupancy permit if the municipality requires one, does not discriminate on race, color or national origin, and must “conduct and maintain records of completed criminal background checks on employees”; a provider that is not an accredited or licensed school sends the documentation with its first application. It gives parents an invoice for services or a receipt for goods, and demonstrates financial viability “by filing a surety bond with the department prior to the start of the school year if they are to receive fifty thousand dollars or more during the school year,” and after the first year if it exceeded $50,000 the year before. The Guide's invoice carries the provider's name and address, the student's name, the parent's name, the date of invoice, the date of service, the type of service and the total due; students listed separately; “no handwritten documents will be accepted.” The parent pays through ClassWallet's Pay Vendor, every payment is reviewed, and settlement reaches the school's bank account in 2 to 10 business days. Billing cadence is the provider's: weekly, monthly or quarterly. Enrollment, registration, technology, supply and testing fees are approved school charges; food, field trip, fundraising, graduation and child care fees are not.

  S.C. Code § 59-8-150(A)–(B); S.C. Department of Education, Education Service Provider Guide 2026–2027 · last read 19 October 2026

• Testing from grade 3, results to the Department every year, and reapplication with scores or removal

  A provider giving full-time instruction ensures every scholarship student in grades 3 through 8 takes the state summative assessment or an approved alternative, or instead a nationally norm-referenced summative assessment each year or a Department-approved formative assessment three times a year, aligned to state standards with a linking study; students in grades 9 through 12 take a Department-approved norm-referenced, formative or college-and-career-readiness assessment. Students whose IEP cannot be accommodated by standardised testing are excluded, and students with significant cognitive disabilities are monitored through portfolios. Parents receive a written report comparing the student to other South Carolina students; results go to the Department annually, disaggregated by grade, gender, family income, race and English-learner status; the Department trains the provider and pays the testing costs. A provider reapplies every year, certifying it still meets the requirements, and “if individual student test score data is not submitted, then the department shall remove the education service provider from the program.” The Education Oversight Committee publishes a school-level report where at least 51 percent of enrolled students, or thirty students with scores, are in the program.

  S.C. Code § 59-8-140(A)(3); § 59-8-150(C), (E)(2) · last read 19 October 2026

• The other program, ECENC, requires an association membership and a 1 March reapplication; no student may hold both

  The Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children's Fund pays grants of up to $11,000 or tuition, whichever is less, to exceptional needs children at an “eligible school”: an independent school, religious or not, at which § 59-65-10 may be met, that offers a general education, does not discriminate on race, color or national origin, is in the state, teaches the diploma curriculum and tests students at progressive grade levels, has facilities subject to law, “is a member in good standing of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the South Carolina Association of Christian Schools, the South Carolina Independent Schools Association, or Palmetto Association of Independent Schools,” and provides a program or resource centre for exceptional needs students. A participating school reapplies to the Education Oversight Committee by 1 March and sends the previous year's test scores by 30 June or is removed; a student who leaves without re-enrolling within thirty days triggers a prorated refund to the charity within sixty days. An ESTF “eligible student” excludes a student in this program.

  S.C. Code § 12-6-3790(A)(1), (C)(1)–(3), (E)(1); § 59-8-110(4) · last read 19 October 2026