CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Some charter schools in Horry County are under fire for how they’re managing their money.
South Carolina education superintendent Molly Spearman sent a letter to Horry County Schools, criticizing Bridgewater Academy, The Academy of Hope, and the Palmetto Academy for Learning Motorsports for not following a new law.
Gov. Henry McMaster approved Act 23 last May, requiring charter schools to have a month of operating expenses in savings.
The department of education’s letter says a 2017 audit showed none of those schools did that.
The Horry County school district’s finance committee discussed the state education department’s letter at a meeting Thursday.
“We do not have control over the charter schools,” said Joe DeFeo, chair of the HCS board. “They decide all those things. When they fall outside the bounds of what they’re supposed to do, that’s when we can intervene.”
Despite being charter schools, HCS is a sponsor of the three academies and gives funding to them.