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Charter Schools Program

The Charter School Program subgrant:

  • Will only select 3 new grantees for the next school year (as we are in our No Cost Extension)
  • Will be available for schools entering their planning year or schools opening this fall.
  • Can be found on the SCDE grants page - https://ed.sc.gov/finance/grants/scde-grant-opportunities/
  • Is labeled as “2026-27 Public Charter Schools Program Subgrant“

We will be contacting those who were selected here shortly. If you were not selected this year, please apply for the coming years as we do not utilize the same reviewers in back-to-back years.

The South Carolina Charter Schools Act of 1996 defines a charter school as a public, nonreligious, non-home-based, nonprofit corporation forming a school that operates by the 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.

Purpose of a Charter School:

  • Improve student learning
  • Increase learning opportunities for students
  • Encourage the use of a variety of productive teaching methods
  • Establish new forms of accountability for schools
  • Create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunity to be responsible for the learning program at the school site
  • Assist South Carolina in reaching academic excellence
  • Create new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating children within the public school system, with the goal of closing achievement gaps between low-performing student groups and high-performing student groups

Charter School Contacts

Beth Poff, Charter School Team Lead 
Terri Prince, Planning & Implementation Grant Manager
Joseph Allotta, Charter School Program Manager

Virtual SC - Online Anytime Board Meeting

Charter Resources