S.C. board rescinds policy, ends lawsuit threat

COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Board of Education on Wednesday rescinded a rule requiring the elected state superintendent to provide a monthly report on multi-million-dollar grants available to schools.

The vote ends the threat that the state board will sue Superintendent Mick Zais. Both he and the board’s new chairman, Dennis Thompson, say they’re putting the squabble in the past and moving forward cooperatively.

Thompson said it boiled down to a “misinterpretation of what a request was.”

“We all agreed to bring about some closure to some misunderstandings in the past,” Thompson, a former superintendent of Hampton 2, said after the meeting. “Everybody agreed to work together and share information in a timely manner, regarding grants or any other newsworthy thing we need.”

The new pledge to work together comes after a meeting last week among Zais, board leaders and their attorneys.

The vote followed a change in board leadership, as terms expired in December. Thompson, formerly chair-elect, took the helm this month, and the 16-member board has three new members.

The rule approved last November would have required the Republican schools chief to report on any federal or private grant exceeding $10 million for which South Carolina schools are eligible, and to justify his decision on whether to apply.

Zais argued the board has no authority over him and that he reports to voters, not the board.

With both sides arguing that state law backed them up, the board voted Dec. 8 to sue if the issue couldn’t be resolved by Dec. 23. But that threat was put on hold amid hectic holiday schedules that both sides said made the deadline impossible to meet.

Board members said the policy was about providing transparency for South Carolina residents. Zais argued it was pure politics, saying he was willing to work with the board, just not for it.

He reiterated that Wednesday and called the vote a “step forward so the agency and the state board can focus our joint interests on improving student achievement in South Carolina.”

The disagreement stemmed from Zais’ refusal to seek federal education innovation grants, and the board’s requests that he reconsider.

Zais has repeatedly said he made clear on the campaign trail in 2010 that he would not apply for grants through President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, which provides money to winners in exchange for administration-backed reforms. He argues the money is meager when looking at all money going to schools and that it creates an unfunded mandate to continue new or expanded programs when the grant runs out in four years.