(A) The department shall create a standard application process and timeline for parents to establish the eligibility of their student for the Education Scholarship Trust Fund program. Beginning November first of every year, an early application window will be opened for current participants of this program who continue to meet the criteria of an eligible student, and their siblings. The department shall continue to accept applications for the ESTF program on a rolling basis until capacity is met and then shall maintain a waitlist to maximize program participation. (B) Pursuant to the timeline established pursuant to subsection (A), the department shall ensure the following: (1) applications must be processed in the order in which they are received, within each of the priority and general application windows; (2) after the conclusion of the application window for current participants and their siblings, a priority application window for new program participants must be open for students who meet the following criteria: (a) has a parent or guardian who is an active-duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States and will be living in South Carolina as a result of their duty station; (b) has a household income that does not exceed three hundred percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or (c) attended a public school in the previous academic year; (3) once the priority application windows have closed, the general application window must open for any student who did not meet the early application window criteria; and (4) within thirty days of submission of all required documentation, award letters must be enrolled and issued, and the student's online account must be created. (C) Before awarding a scholarship, the department must obtain evidence of all other student eligibility criteria set forth in Section 59-8-110. (D) The department shall approve an initial application for scholarship if: (1) the parent submits an application for a scholarship in accordance with the application and procedures established by the department; (2) the student on whose behalf the parent is applying is an eligible student; (3) funds are available for the ESTF; and (4) the parent annually attests to the following: (a) to provide, at a minimum, a program of academic instruction for the eligible student in at least the subjects of English/language arts to include writing, mathematics, social studies, and science; (b) to ensure the scholarship student takes assessments as referenced in Section 59-8-150 or provides assessments in a similar manner through other means if the scholarship student does not receive full-time instruction from an education service provider; (c) to use the scholarship for qualifying expenses only for an approved provider to educate the scholarship student, subject to penalty; (d) not to enroll their scholarship student in a public school as a full-time student in the resident school, as defined in this chapter; (e) not to participate in a home instruction program under Section 59-65-40, 59-65-45, or 59-65-47; (f) that includes parental acknowledgement that the nonpublic school education service providers are not subject to IDEA and are not required to offer the same services as the public school system to which their child is zoned for attendance. A parent does have the ability to request an evaluation and determination of possible eligibility from their resident school district; and (g) to confirm that, if the parent's child is a student with disabilities, the parent has received notice from the department that participation in the ESTF program is a parental placement of the scholarship student under IDEA, along with an explanation of the rights that parentally placed students possess under IDEA and any applicable state laws and regulations, including the consultation process provided for in 20 U.S.C. Section 1412(a)(10) and the Individual Education Program requirements described in Section 1414(d) of IDEA. (E) The department shall make available on its website in a conspicuous location information in conformity with 34 C.F.R. Sections 300.130 through 300.144, Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities, explaining to parents the rights of children with disabilities under IDEA both in public schools and as parentally placed students in private schools. (F) Personal deposits into an ESTF account are prohibited. (G) Funds received pursuant to this section do not constitute taxable income to the parent of the scholarship student or to the student. (H) A parent's signed agreement under subsection (D)(4) satisfies the state's compulsory attendance law pursuant to Section 59-65-10. (I) The State Board of Education may promulgate regulations for the administration of the program as may be applicable. (J) The department may contract with qualified organizations to administer the program application process or specific functions, maintenance, and monitoring of the program application process as required above. (K) Students must be considered enrolled in the program until the parent notifies the department of a decision to terminate participation or the department determines that the student is no longer eligible. Editor's Note 2023 Act No. 8, SECTION 3, provides as follows: "SECTION 3. This act takes effect thirty days after approval by the Governor, provided that upon approval of this act by the Governor, the Department of Education shall begin undertaking and executing responsibilities incidental to the implementation of this act so that the provisions of this act may be fully implemented thirty days after approval by the Governor." 2025 Act No. 11, SECTION 16, provides as follows: "SECTION 16. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. Current eligible participants may continue receiving benefits under the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, until the end of the 2024-2025 School Year." Effect of Amendment 2025 Act No. 11, SECTION 2, rewrote the section.
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