Purple Star School Program

2025-2026 Bill 4590: Purple Star School Program - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4590
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Gilliam, C. Mitchell, Pope and Schuessler
Document Path: LC-0395SA26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House
Summary: Purple Star School Program
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 30
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works
(
House Journal-page 30
)

1/21/2026

House

Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Schuessler

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION
59-46-60
SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOUTH CAROLINA PURPLE STAR
SCHOOL PROGRAM, TO PROVIDE FOR AN APPLICATION PROCESS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE
DISPLAY OF THE PURPLE STAR SCHOOL DESIGNATION.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 46, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
59-46-60
.
(
A) The compact
commissioner shall establish a nonmonetary South Carolina Purple Star School
Program pursuant to this section in order to achieve the following three goals:

(
1)
Reduce the burden on military-connected students and their families by
articulating critical transition supports for military-co
nnected
students and their families through statewide partnership support.

(
2)
Publicly recognize and designate school districts and school campus-based
sites, public charter schools, private schools, homeschools, DoDEA schools, or
any educational facility that educates or provides services to
military-connected students that meet certain requirements through a Purple
Star School designation criteria. Meeting Purple Star School designation
criteria requirements shall signal which school districts and school
campus-based sites are the most committed and best equipped to meet military-connected
students and their families' unique needs.

(
3)
Establish statewide universal Military Student Identifier collection protocol
for South Carolina public schools to include public charter schools, private
schools, homeschools, DoDEA schools, or any educational facility that educates
or provides services to military-connected students.

(
B)
(
1) The compact commissioner shall
develop an application process that provides annual opportunities for school
districts and school campus-based sites to earn the Purple Star School
designation by demonstrating compliance with the application criteria adopted
pursuant to item (2) with final approval of the compact commissioner and
assistance through the compact commissioner appointed Purple Star School
Committee.

(
2)
The compact commissioner shall adopt application criteria for school districts
and school campus-based sites seeking the Purple Star School designation. The
department shall consider, as part of the application criteria, a requirement
that a school district or school campus-based site complete the following four
South Carolina Purple Star School designation requirements:

(
a)
military liaison, which ensures military-connected students are identified and
properly coded through a MSI (Military Student Identifier), serves as the point
of contact between the military community to assist with transitions in and out
of the school, supports student-led transition programs, attends an annual
professional development or training including, but not limited to, the
enrollment process, records transfer, community resources, and student support,
with a recommended three to five hours, annually, coordinates an annual
professional development or training to a suggested seventy percent of faculty
and staff members on relevant military-connected student issues, and provides
case by case transition assistance to incoming and outgoing students and
signals inclusion for extracurricular activities and sports;

(
b)
professional development, which serves seventy percent of faculty and staff
members on relevant military-connected student issues through an annual
professional development or training, recommended training, and community
partnership opportunities including, but not limited to:

(
i)
Military Interstate Children's Compact 101 and 201 Training; or

(
ii)
MCEC Purple Star School Professional Development PD for education professionals;

(
c)
webpage for military families which provides an easily navigable webpage for
military support and inclusion to incoming families and centralizes critical
state and local community transition information and resources. The webpage
includes, but is not limited to:

(
1)
relocation information;

(
2)
Military Interstate Children's Compact;

(
3)
support services and resources; and

(
4)
school district and school campus-based military liaison contact information;
and

(
d)
campus-based student-led transition program, which assists incoming students to
acclimate to a new campus and community with ongoing connections in the school,
participates in organizing and hosting new student events, facilitates guided
campus tours, accompanies new students to lunch during the first week of
school, and is actively sponsored and supported by a campus-based military
liaison.

(
C)
(
1) Once a school district or school
campus-based site is awarded a Purple Star School designation upon final
approval from the compact commissioner, the designee shall display the
designation award status on its website.

(
2)
A Purple Star School designation is active for three years, after which a
school district or school campus-based site seeking to renew its designation
must reapply pursuant to subsection (B).

(
3)
The compact commissioner or compact commissioner-appointed Purple Star School
Committee may request additional information to verify if a school district or
school campus-based site that has previously earned a Purple Star School
designation continues to adhere to the Purple Star School designation criteria
adopted pursuant to subsection (B).

(
4)
(
a) Notwithstanding items (1) and (2),
if the compact commissioner finds that a school district or school campus-based
site that has previously earned a Purple Star School designation ceases to
comply with the criteria adopted pursuant to subsection (B) during the
three-year designation period, the school district or school campus-based site
will lose the active designation pending criteria having been met with final
approval of a completed renewal process.

(
b)
A school district or school campus-based site that loses the designation
pursuant to subitem (a) may reapply pursuant to subsection (B).

(
D)
For purposes of the Purple Star School Program designation section, the
following definitions apply:

(
1)
"Military-connected student" means a school-age child who is:

(
a)
a dependent of a current or former uniformed service member of any of the
following:

(
i)
the United States military serving in the United States Air Force, United
States Army, United States Coast Guard, United States Marine Corps, United
States Navy, or United States Space Force on active duty;

(
ii)
the South Carolina National Guard; or

(
iii) a reserve component of the
United States military;

(
b)
was a dependent of a member of a military or reserve component described in
subitem (a) who was killed in the line of duty; or

(
c)
a veteran.

(
2)
"School campus-based site" means a publicly or privately funded school serving
students in pre-K, K-12, or higher education.

S
ECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:42 PM