Could Meeting Street Elementary run schools of choice at both Brentwood and Burns under the 2016 South Carolina opinion?

Plain-English summary

The state superintendent asked the AG to revisit its reading of South Carolina's schools-of-choice law for Meeting Street Elementary. In 2015, the office had read the statute to permit one school of choice within a district. Meeting Street Elementary already operated at Brentwood and contemplated another location at Burns, both under the same partnership between Charleston County School District and Meeting Street Schools.

The 2016 follow-up predicted that a court would regard Burns as an extension of Brentwood: one school of choice at two locations in Constituent District 4. The AG acknowledged that the locations would have distinct school identification codes and enrollment zones. It tied the conclusion to this unusual operation by the same nonprofit under the same partnership; it did not announce a general right to open multiple independent schools of choice.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. 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: Did the 2015 opinion allow several separate schools of choice in one district?
A: No. As quoted in this follow-up, the earlier opinion read the statute as allowing one school of choice within a district.

Q: Why did the AG count Brentwood and Burns as one school?
A: It described both locations as the same Meeting Street Elementary operation under the same school district and nonprofit partnership.

Q: Did different school codes and enrollment zones change the answer?
A: The AG expressly noted those differences but still predicted a court would count the two sites as one school for this situation.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied S.C. Code Ann. § 59-19-350 as the AG had interpreted it in its 2015 opinion. The question was whether the proposed Burns site would be a second school of choice in Constituent District 4. The AG characterized Burns as an extension of the existing Brentwood school rather than an independent second school. The extracted PDF text contains apparent transcription mistakes in the earlier opinion's month and in “Burns”; the linked PDF controls those details.

Citations and references

• The AG described the proposed operation as “one school, Meeting Street Elementary, with two locations.”
• It called Burns “an extension of the formerly created Meeting Street Elementary at Brentwood.”
• Source: South Carolina Attorney General, May 31, 2016.

Official title

On schools of choice (S.C. Code Ann. Section 59-19-350 (Supp. 2014)).

Requester

The Honorable Molly M. Spearman, State Superintendent of Education.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/may-31-2016-1/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Spearman-M.-follow-up-letter-to-0S-9909-5-31-2016-01512707xD2C78.pdf

Original opinion text

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Alan Wilson
ATTORNEY GENERAL

May 31, 2016

The Honorable Molly M. Spearman
State Superintendent of Education
South Carolina Department of Education
1429 Senate Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Dear Superintendent Spearman:
On My 9, 2015 this Office issued an opinion in response to your questions regarding

S.C. Code Ann. § 59-1 9-350 .(Supp. 2014). See On. S.C. Att'v Gen., 2015 WL 4497736 (My 9, 2015).

As the title suggests, Section 59-19-350 permits the creation of "[sjchools of choice

exempt from state laws and regulations." In part, you asked whether the language chosen by the Legislature in Section 59-19-350(A), permitting a district to create "a school of choice within the

district," implies that only one school of choice can receive such designation within a certain district.

In your opinion request, you also included an example of a county school district that

created an all choice district in that all thirty (30) schools in the district are choice schools, pursuant to Section 59-19-350.

Relying on the applicable rules of statutory construction, our My 9, 2015 opinion concluded as follows:

[a]s we believe the statute's language conveys a clear and definite meaning, does not produce an absurd result when interpreted, and gives meaning to all provisions of the statute, it is our opinion that a court would find S.C. Code Ann.
§ 59-19-350 (Supp. 2014) permits a local school district board of trustees to create one school of choice within its district for the purpose of providing new, innovative, and more flexible ways of educating children."

On. S.C. Att'v Gen.. 2015 WL 4497736 (My 9, 2015).
We have been asked to revisit this opinion in a different context. As you are aware, Meeting Street Schools (MSS), a not-for-profit 501-(C)(3) organization, has entered into a public-private partnership with the Charleston County School District to improve educational opportunities for under-resourced children. It is our understanding the MSS recently worked to improve what is now called Meeting Street Elementary at Brentwood, a school of choice, and is 'currently contemplating similar improvements to Burns Elementary. Thus, Bums Elementary would be a second Meeting Street Elementary School: Meeting Street Elementary at Bums.

Rembert C. Dennis Building

•

Post Office Box 1 1 549

•

Columbia, SC2921 1-1549

• Telephone 803-734-3970

. Facsimile 803-253-6283

The Honorable Molly M. Spearman
Page 2
May 31, 2016

It is also contemplated that Meeting Street Elementary at Burns will operate as a school of choice.

However, because it would be in same constituent district as Meeting Street

Elementary at Brentwood, concern has arisen that operation of both schools would violate S.C. Code Ann. § 59-19-350 (Supp. 2014) as more than one school of choice would potentially be in

operation in the district.
In review of the facts unique to this situation, if Meeting Street Elementary at Burns were established, we believe a court would find only one school of choice exists in Charleston County

School District, Constituent District 4.

To explain, both Meeting Street Elementary at

Brentwood and Meeting Street Elementary and Burns would exist due to the same public-private partnership between the Charleston County School District and MSS. While we understand the two schools would have different school identification codes and enrollment zones, this unique operation, in existence by the same non-profit corporation, in our opinion, would constitute as one school, Meeting Street Elementary, with two locations, Meeting Street Elementary at Burns and Meeting Street Elementary at Brentwood.

In other words, it is our opinion that a court

would find the opening of Meeting Street Elementary at Burns would be considered an extension of the formerly created Meeting Street Elementary at Brentwood. Accordingly, we believe only one school of choice would be in existence, pursuant to the requirements set forth in S.C. Code

Ann. § 59-19-350 (Supp. 2014), as previously interpreted in Op, S.C. Att'v Gen.. 2015 WL 4497736 (July 9, 2015). We look forward to the profound educational impact Meeting Street Elementary at Burns, like Meeting Street Elementary at Brentwood, will have on the children residing in Constituent District 4.

Very truly yours,

Anne Marie Crosswell
Assistant Attorney General

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Robert D. Cook

Solicitor General

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