At least 13 SC charter schools in limbo as Limestone district will close in 2026
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Unchartered Territory
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Limestone University’s charter school district will wind down its operations over the next 13 months, and all of the schools it oversees will need to find new sponsors for the 2026-2027 school year.
The Limestone Charter Association, a publicly-funded nonprofit that oversees 13 charter schools across the state and has approved more than a dozen others that have yet to open, has entered a “closure protocol” in wake of the 179-year-old private Upstate college’s recent decision to cease operations, Meka Childs, the S.C. Department of Education’s director of education choice and family engagement, explained Tuesday to the State Board of Education’s Policy and Legislative Committee.
Most of Limestone’s schools are in the Upstate and include Oceanside Collegiate in Mt. Pleasant and Legion Collegiate in Rock Hill.
“The closure protocol (Limestone Charter Association) is going through is not a reflection on LCA’s financial standing or the performance of its schools or even its performance as a district,” Childs said. “It’s just statutorily required because (Limestone University) is going away.”
The charter district, established in 2021, is a separate legal entity from the university and has its own board of directors, but cannot by law sponsor charter schools without an institution of higher education behind it.
Charter school sponsors, also known as authorizers, rely on taxpayer support to vet new charter applications, oversee schools they approve to open and close schools that fail to live up to their commitments. Sponsors pass along most of the public money they receive to the individual schools they authorize, but may retain up to 2% in administrative fees to cover the cost of providing oversight.
South Carolina education officials have never before dealt with the closure of an active charter school authorizer, and state law doesn’t address how the situation should be handled.
In order to provide some guidance, South Carolina lawmakers inserted a temporary measure in the recently approved state budget that directs the state Department of Education to create a Local Education Agency closure protocol and timeline for the transfer of any schools authorized by districts that are closing.
In the weeks since Limestone University announced its closure due to longstanding financial problems, Childs said she worked closely with the university’s charter district, state leadership and other authorizers and stakeholders to map out a closure plan that minimizes disruption for the charter district’s students and staff.
“Rather than trying to make a quick decision and move to try to finish things by the end of the 2024-25 school year, what the state is doing is using the 2025-26 school year as a transition period,” she said.
Under the plan, Limestone Charter Association will continue to receive state funds and retain its traditional administrative and oversight roles during the 2025-26 school year, while making arrangements to close by June 30, 2026, and release its schools to other authorizers for the 2026-27 school year.
Childs said the Department of Education will remain in close communication with Limestone officials throughout the coming school year, but doesn’t plan to place any additional restrictions on the charter district’s spending or operations.
In the event that Limestone Charter Association begins losing operational capacity, as staff members depart the district for other job opportunities, state education officials are prepared to step in and offer coverage, as needed.
“If there are places where we need to be creative in making sure the support is there, we stand ready to do what we are allowed to,” Childs said.
Limestone Charter Association superintendent Angel Malone did not respond to requests for comment.
The charter district’s schools will have between July 1 and Dec. 15 of this year to work out their transfer decisions.
In addition to the 13 schools the district currently authorizes, Limestone has six new schools slated to open in the fall and recently granted approval or conditional approval to another 11 schools planning to open in subsequent years.
All of Limestone’s existing and pipeline schools are eligible to transfer to other sponsors, although some that have yet to open may prefer to simply reapply to another authorizer during next year’s application cycle.
Childs said she was confident that most Limestone schools would find a landing spot, but acknowledged it’s not guaranteed that other authorizers will agree to bring them on.
Several Limestone schools, including perennial athletics powerhouses Oceanside Collegiate and Legion Collegiate, came to the district after leaving other authorizers and may not want to return or be welcome to return to those authorizers.
Since the state cannot compel authorizers to accept schools they do not want or have the capacity to sponsor, there’s a possibility that some Limestone schools won’t be able to find new authorizers and will be forced to close.
A spokesman for the S.C. Public Charter School District, which sponsors 44 of South Carolina’s 104 charter schools, said the district had not had any discussions with Limestone schools about transferring in and did not plan to solicit any.
“At this point, the District is not considering any of the Limestone schools,” Brad Henry, spokesman for the public charter district, said via email.
A spokeswoman for the Charter Institute at Erskine, which authorizes 26 schools, did not respond when asked about the possibility of bringing on Limestone schools. The fast-growing district, which serves more students than any other authorizer, has had multiple schools jump ship to Limestone in recent years, including some that left on bad terms and whose operators are engaged in litigation with the district.
South Carolina’s newest statewide charter authorizer, Voorhees University Charter Institute of Learning, has yet to approve any schools, but could also be an option for Limestone schools.
Voorhees’ superintendent Windy Stephenson said Tuesday that the fledgling district hadn’t received any formal transfer requests from Limestone charter schools, but had gotten informal inquiries from schools served by other sponsors seeking information about its authorization process.
“At this time, all communication remains preliminary and exploratory,” Stephenson wrote in an email. “The Board remains committed to transparency, equity, and rigorous standards in reviewing any future charter school applications or transfer requests.”
Charter schools authorized by Limestone
- Horse Creek Academy, Aiken
- Coastal High School, Myrtle Beach
- Orangeburg High School for Health Professions, Orangeburg
- Atlantic Collegiate Academy, Myrtle Beach
- East Link Academy, Greenville
- Global Academy of SC, Spartanburg
- Goucher Charter Academy, Gaffney
- Legion Collegiate Academy, Rock Hill
- Mountain View Preparatory, Spartanburg
- Oceanside Collegiate Academy, Mt. Pleasant
- SC Prep Leadership School, Anderson (Virtual)
- SC Preparatory Academy, Anderson (Virtual)
- Summerville Preparatory Academy, Summerville
- Colearn Academy SC, Virtual*
- Discovery School at Myrtle Beach, Conway*
- Horse Creek Academy - Kershaw, Lugoff*
- Marshview Collegiate Academy, Hardeeville*
- AIM High School, Columbia (Hybrid)
- Grand Strand Charter Arts, Myrtle Beach*
*Expected to open for 2025-26 school year
This story was originally published June 4, 2025 at 10:21 AM with the headline "At least 13 SC charter schools in limbo as Limestone district will close in 2026."
