Oceanside Collegiate’s charter revoked by sponsor for failure to comply with state law and contract, sponsor says

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) — A Mount Pleasant charter school could have its charter revoked effective June 30 after a special board meeting on Thursday.

The Charter Institute of Erskine, a charter school sponsor, revoked Oceanside Collegiate Academy’s charter after the school board failed to comply with state law and adhere to corrective action plans over several years, Erskine claimed.

“The Board of Oceanside is vested with the responsibility to oversee the lawful administration of many Millions in taxpayer funds.  The OCA Board repeatedly failed to fulfill this lawful responsibility.  The Institute tried for approximately four years to impress upon the school Board the necessity that the school follows state law,” the Institute said in a statement. “Ultimately, after three years of non-compliance with multiple corrective action plans, the unwillingness of the school board to adhere to state law regarding the lawful use of public funds left the Institute Board with no choice but to revoke Oceanside’s charter in accordance with the South Carolina Charter Schools Act.”

The academy has fourteen days to request an appeal hearing before the decision to revoke becomes final. News 2 has reached out for a comment on these claims from the Oceanside Board of Directors and is awaiting a response.

Oceanside was approved for charter by Erskine in 2017. According to documents provided by the Institute, problems between Oceanside and the Institute began in 2020 when the Institute found concerns about Oceanside failing to comply with fiscal duties in the charter contract.

 In 2021,  the Institute was notified of non-compliance and told to create a corrective action plan. Erskine claims that Oceanside never did this. Erskine says they then issued their own corrective action plan in accordance with the charter contract.

Erskine says Oceanside failed to fully comply. In 2023, the Institute said it discovered Oceanside also failed to report allegations against school employees to law enforcement. As a result, the Institute created a second corrective action plan, which the school failed to fully comply with once again, according to documents from the Institute.

In 2021, The Office of the State Inspector General wrote a letter to Governor Henry McMaster concerning issues found regarding three charter schools, including Oceanside, and the misuse of state funds in those school systems. All three of the schools are managed by Pinnacle Charter School Management Group.