Can Gov. McMaster spend $32M in COVID aid on private schools? SC judge to decide
A South Carolina judge will hear arguments Wednesday on whether Gov. Henry McMaster can legally spend $32 million in federal COVID-19 money on private school tuition grants.
The hearing comes just a week after a judge temporarily blocked McMaster from spending the money, part of $48.5 million in federal aid McMaster has in a discretionary account intended for educational purposes. McMaster spent the first round — $2.4 million — on the state’s historically black colleges. That money has been put on hold because some of the colleges are private, the Governor’s Office said.
Circuit Court Judge Edgar W. Dickson has scheduled a hearing for 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit, Thomasena Adams, sued the governor and the Palmetto Promise Institute last week, alleging the governor’s spending money out of his one-time Emergency Education Relief account on private schools violates state law that bars public tax dollars from going to religious or other private education institutions.
The lawsuit also says the money going to school districts for each student is far less than what private schools will get per student approved for tuition assistance. For instance, the complaint says, Orangeburg County will get less than $6 million in federal CARES Act money, about $473 per student, “in comparison to up to six thousand five hundred dollars ($6,500) per student through Safe Access Flexible Education (SAFE) grants.”
The private school tuition grants are not available for all students. Only students whose households fall within 300% of the federal poverty threshold are eligible for the grants.
Critics say the $32 million in federal virus aid would be better spent in the state’s public schools, which are gearing up to reopen to students whether in-person, virtual, or through a hybrid model offering both.
“There are 46 state senators in South Carolina: Could you imagine what the reaction would be if each of us seized on this public health crisis to advance each of our particular causes?” former teacher and state Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield, wrote in a recent op-ed. “Yet that’s exactly what McMaster has done by playing politics in a pandemic at the expense of public schools.”
The state’s school choice advocates — backed up U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in a recent S.C. trip — contend the federal government was explicitly clear when it drafted guidance for the governors’ relief account: independent and private schools would be eligible because they are deemed an essential education service provider, said Ellen Weaver, head of the Palmetto Promise Institute, a conservative think tank.
The Governor’s Office told The State Tuesday it had been working on the plan since June, well before the governor announced in mid-July that the state’s public schools should give parents the option of sending their child back to school all five days a week.
McMaster’s spending also bolsters long-time efforts to expand school choice in the Palmetto State, some of which have not been successful.
“We make no secret about it: we would love to see more education choice in South Carolina,” Weaver said. “It’s something we’ve talked about for a number of years.”
More than 700,000 students attend public schools, compared with roughly 50,000 who attend private schools.
Under the governor’s plan, the $32 million in tuition aid would amount to $6,500 on average to help about 5,000 students — a figure built on what is the median tuition for private and public schools. Though the original plan was to make the first 2,500 grants available on a first come, first-serve basis and the remaining dollars through a lottery, the Governor’s Office said Tuesday the interest has been overwhelming and a lottery system may have to be done for the entire process.
About 10,000 parents with children enrolled in private schools for 2020-2021 — including on wait lists — have applied, they said.
Schools and parents will sign up and apply, respectively, for the grants through a website run by Palmetto Promise. But the think tank will have no fiduciary oversight or involvement in the program. Oversight will fall to a grants manager through the Governor’s Office.
“We’re just simply helping to facilitate communication with schools and parents,” Weaver said.
South Carolina has about 400 private or independent schools, but about 200 are part of larger private associations or nationally accredited — which most, if not all, have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. At least 89 private schools applied this year for the federal government’s small business loan program to help offset the financial impact, which has accounted for more than $19 million in revenue loss and has led to layoffs for some schools.
A handful of S.C. private schools got loans, including Hammond School and Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia.
Cardinal Newman Catholic School received between $350,000 and $1 million, used mostly to cover payroll costs, including to retain all 123 teachers, coaches and staff, Maria Aselage, a spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, said earlier this month.
The Diocese runs 33 schools, which enroll about 7,000 students across the state, including in some rural areas.
“COVID has impacted everybody,” said Michael Acquilano, also with the Diocese, which, he said, gives away about $16 million a year in tuition help to financially-strapped families. “It’s not like it’s selected only certain people to hurt or harm. People assume because (it’s) private that therefore that school is an elitist institution. Quite frankly, that’s not the case. We’ve got schools around over 100 years, serving predominately minority communities” where the schools pay 100% of tuition, Acquilano said.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Can Gov. McMaster spend $32M in COVID aid on private schools? SC judge to decide."
