Charter School Playoffs

2025-2026 Bill 5311: Charter School Playoffs - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5311
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Hardee, Atkinson, Yow and C. Mitchell
Document Path: LC-0657WAB26.docx
Introduced in the House on March 4, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Education and Public Works
Summary: Charter School Playoffs
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

3/4/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 7
)

3/4/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works
(
House Journal-page 7
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
03/04/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION
59-40-53
SO AS TO ESTABLISH A SEPARATE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET FOR CHARTER
SCHOOLS IN INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS AND TO PROVIDE POSTSEASON RANKING,
SEEDING, AND ELIGIBILITY PROCEDURES; AND BY AMENDING SECTION
59-40-50
, RELATING
TO REQUIREMENTS FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS, SO AS TO MAKE A CONFORMING CHANGE.

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

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 40, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
59-40-53
.
(
A) Notwithstanding
another provision of law or any rule of the South Carolina High School League,
charter schools that are members of the South Carolina High School League shall
compete in a separate state championship playoff bracket for postseason
interscholastic athletic competition as provided in this section. Charter
schools are ineligible to participate in other postseason interscholastic
competitions.

(
B)
Charter schools shall compete in their assigned regions during the regular
season in accordance with rules of the South Carolina High School League. For
postseason competition in team sports designated by the league, all qualifying
charter schools shall be placed in a combined statewide charter school
championship playoff bracket separate from all other member schools.

(
C)
(
1) To qualify for the charter school
state championship playoff bracket, a charter school must:

(
a)
participate in a region schedule established by the league; and

(
b)
meet the minimum number of contests for the applicable sport as determined by league
regulation.

(
2)
Charter school region champions shall automatically qualify for the charter
school state championship playoff bracket.

(
3)
All qualifying charter schools shall be seeded pursuant to the postseason
ranking formula provided in subsection (D).

(
D)
(
1) The South Carolina High School
League shall utilize a uniform postseason ranking formula to determine seeding
for charter schools in applicable team sports. The formula must assign a
numerical ranking score to each qualifying charter school based upon the
following components:

(
a)
Winning Percentage (WP), calculated by dividing a team's weighted wins by the
total number of contests played. The League shall establish weight values for
home, away, neutral site, and contests against nonmember schools. This
component shall account for thirty-five percent of the final ranking score;

(
b)
Opponents' Winning Percentage (OWP), determined by calculating the average
winning percentage of each opponent, excluding contests played against the team
being evaluated. This component shall account for thirty-five percent of the
final ranking score; and

(
c)
Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage (OOWP), determined by calculating the
average opponents' winning percentage of each opponent. This component shall
account for thirty percent of the final ranking score.

(
2)
The League shall publish the formula methodology, formula weighting values, and
resulting rankings on its official website.

(
E) In
the event of identical ranking scores, ties must be broken in the following
order:

(
1)
head-to-head result;

(
2)
higher winning percentage;

(
3)
higher opponents' winning percentage;

(
4)
higher opponents' opponents' winning percentage;

(
5)
coin toss or other neutral method established by League regulation.

(
F)
Charter schools shall comply with all scheduling, score-reporting, and
data-submission requirements established by the league. All contests against league
member schools must be included in ranking calculations, regardless of
classification. Charter school athletes participating in interscholastic
athletic competition, including postseason competition under this section, must
meet the academic eligibility requirements of Section
59-39-160
.

(
G)
The South Carolina High School League shall promulgate rules consistent with
this section to ensure uniform implementation beginning with the next
reclassification cycle following July 1, 2026.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
59-40-50
(C)(3)(a) of the S.C. Code is amended
to read:

(
a) A charter school is eligible for
federally sponsored, state-sponsored or district-sponsored interscholastic
leagues, competitions, awards, scholarships, grants, and recognition programs
for students, educators, administrators, staff, and schools to the same extent
as all other public schools
, subject to the provisions of
Section
59-40-53
regarding postseason playoffs
.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor and applies beginning with the next League reclassification
cycle following July 1, 2026.

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This web page was last updated on March 4, 2026 at 11:00 AM