Could South Carolina’s education department withhold school-bus funds to collect a district’s debt for extracurricular bus use?

Plain-English summary

In a 1996 informal opinion, an assistant deputy attorney general addressed whether the State Department of Education could withhold transportation funds from a district to offset money the district owed for bus use outside state-funded purposes. The examples included extracurricular activities. He suggested obtaining legislative authorization before withholding the funds.

The author contrasted the state's express duty to pay for transportation to regularly organized instructional classes with the absence of an express power to withhold money over transportation the department considered outside state funding. The opinion did not decide the amount any district owed or whether any particular bus trip counted as state-funded transportation.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1996. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could the department simply subtract a district's bus-use debt from state transportation funds?
A: The 1996 letter advised obtaining legislative authorization first because it found no express withholding power.

Q: What transportation did the quoted statute require the state to fund?
A: The quoted passage referred to transporting pupils to regularly organized instructional classes.

Q: Did the letter decide whether every extracurricular trip was outside state funding?
A: No. It described the department's interpretation of such uses and addressed the proposed withholding mechanism.

Background and statutory framework

The state superintendent asked about recouping charges for district school-bus use that the department did not regard as required by state law. The author quoted S. C. Code Ann. §59-67-420 on state-paid transportation to instructional classes. Because he found no corresponding express authority to withhold transportation payments for other uses, he suggested legislative authorization for the proposed offset.

This was an informal opinion signed by an assistant deputy attorney general, not a formal opinion personally reviewed by the Attorney General.

Citations and references

• Student transportation provision: §59-67-420.

Official title

Requesting advice as to whether the Department of Education has the authority to withhold transportation funds from a school district in the amount of monies owed by any such district to the Department for use of the buses for any purposes which are not interpreted by the Department to be required by State law.

Requester

The Honorable Barbara Stock Nielsen, State Superintendent of Education, State Department of Education

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/december-10-1996/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/96dec10nielsen.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLES MOLONY CONDON
ATIORNEY GENERAL

December 10, 1996

The Honorable Barbara Stock Nielsen
State Superintendent of Education
State Department of Education
1429 Senate Street
Columbia, SC
29201
Re:

Informal Opinion

Dear Dr. Nielsen:
You have requested the advice of this Office as to whether the Department of Education has the authority to withhold transportation funds from a school district in the amount of monies owed by any such district to the Department for use of the buses for any purposes which are not interpreted by the Department to be required by State law. These activities include extracurricular activities and others that the Department does not interpret as being intended for State funding. As you know, the State has duties regarding pupil transportation including the direction of the legislature that "[t]he cost of transporting pupils to regularly organized instructional classes ... must be borne by the State." S. C. Code Ann. §59-67-420 (1990). Because of this express authority to pay for transportation to the referenced extent, and because of the absence of express authority to withhold monies owed for transportation that is not State funded, I suggest that the Department obtain legislative authorization before attempting withholding action. This letter is an informal opinion. It has been written by the designated Assistant Deputy Attorney General and represents the opinion of the undersigned attorney as to the specific questions asked. It has not, however, been personally reviewed by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion.

4re.,;lr~G .

POsTOFFlcE Box 11549

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COLUMBIA,S.C.292E - 1549

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TELEPHONE: 803-734-3970

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FACSIMILE 803-253-6283

The Honorable Barbara Stock Nielsen
December 10, 1996

Page 2

If you have further questions, p~eas'e let me know.

Yours ve~y truly,
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J • . Emory Smith, Jr.
Assistant Deputy Attorney General
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CC:

George C. Leventis, Senior General Counsel, Department of Education