|
New State Legislation for Public Schools
As we begin the 2024-2025 school year, we are working through new regulations, provisos, and laws enacted which impact school operations statewide. Please see below for highlights from and links to recent guidance from the South Carolina Department of Education.
Guidance on Gender Reassignment Procedures (H4624): H4624 provides guidance on the care which is provided to transgender students as well as direction on how schools share information with parents/guardians. Among other provisions, under H4624, schools must notify parents/guardians if:
- The minor student asserts to any school employee that the minor’s gender is inconsistent with his or her sex.
- The minor student requests a school employee to address the minor using a pronoun or title that does not align with the minor’s sex.
Additionally, this law prohibits school nurses, counselors, teachers, principals, or other officials or staff from the following:
- Knowingly encouraging or coercing “a minor to withhold from the minor’s parent or legal guardian the fact that the minor’s perception of his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex.”
- Knowingly withholding “from a minor’s parent or legal guardian information related to the minor’s perception that his or her gender is inconsistent with his or her sex.”
In compliance with this policy, the Governor’s School will provide parent notification via email.
Student Physical Privacy (Budget Proviso 1.120): Budget Proviso 1.120 provides guidance on access to restrooms, changing facilities, and living quarters. Among other guidance, this proviso states:
Budget Proviso 1.120 (SDE: Student Physical Privacy) requires that all South Carolina school districts (to include traditional public schools, charter schools, and special schools,) must designate multi-occupancy restrooms and changing facilities for use only by members of one sex and prohibits students of the opposite sex from using the same bathrooms, changing facilities, overnight sleeping quarters, shared bathrooms, locker rooms, and shower rooms.
Instructional Materials Complaint Form: As referenced in its Regulation 43-170, the SC Board of Education has created and provided a form for parents to use when filing a complaint regarding instructional materials. The Instructional Materials Complaint Form is readily available on our school website.
As an inclusive and supportive school community, we look forward to welcoming all of our students and to working with them in conjunction with their families to provide any needed supports.
In compliance with this legislation, the Governor’s School has designated specific administrative personnel to correspond with parents, so that there is no question whether the school leadership has provided timely and accurate notification to parents. The Offices of the Dean and Vice President for Arts and Academics and the Vice President for Student Development have been identified as the appropriate contact for these matters.
Should you have any questions about the Governor’s School’s implementation of these items, please contact Dr. Jennifer Thomas, Vice-President for Arts and Academics, or Dr. Matthew Burns, Vice-President for Student Development, at info@scgsah.org.
| 
