SC Truancy Law
SOUTH CAROLINA COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE ACT
Section 59-65-10. All parents or guardians shall cause their children or wards to attend regularly a public or private school or kindergarten of this State which has been approved by the State Board of Education or a member of the South Carolina Independent Schools’ Association or some similar organization, or a parochial, denominational, or church-related school or other programs which have been approved by the State Board of Education from the school year in which the child or ward is five years of age before September first until the child or ward attains his seventeenth birthday or graduates from high school.
THE LAW
The parent(s) or guardian(s) is determined to be the “custodian” of the student under the Code of Laws of South Carolina in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth herein above, and the student’s non-attendance, whether such non-attendance shall be voluntary or shall result from expulsion or suspension because of the student’s behavior, shall constitute behavior injurious to the student’s welfare and shall be evidence that the student is beyond the control of his parents or other custodian and shall subject the student to commitment under the Family Court Act whether voluntarily absent, suspended or expelled notwithstanding the provisions of the South Carolina Code.
PARENT(S)/GUARDIANS
The parent(s) or guardian(s) shall require the student to attend school regularly in accordance with the rules and regulations as set forth by the Horry County Schools. Any guardian who neglects to enroll his child or ward or refuses to make such child or ward attend school shall, upon his/her failure to do so, shall be subject to punishment for contempt and to a fine of Fifty and 00/100 ($50.00) dollars and/or a jail sentence of thirty (30) days for each day that the student shall be unlawfully absent (all or any portion of the school day) or tardy.
STUDENTS
The student shall attend school regularly (ages 5-17) in accordance with the rules and regulations as set forth by Horry County Schools. Upon his/her failure to do so he/she shall be subject to punishment for contempt and to a commitment to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice for a determinate period not to exceed ninety (90) days, or such other sentence as the Court deems appropriate, including commitment to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice for a period not to exceed forty-five (45) days for the purposes of conducting an evaluation and making recommendations to the Court concerning proper disposition of this case.