By Al Dozier
Disagreements continue to surface about the permitting process for local charter schools after the abrupt permit cancellation of a new Charter School in Irmo.
Ascent Classical Academy had planned to hold classes in a new school at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, holding kindergarten through eighth-grade classes in the church’s education building until the school could move into a permanent location already under contract on a 32-acre site near Koon Road.
But the permit required to conduct school at the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church location was denied by the town of Irmo. Some 300 students and 25 staff members were preparing to start the school year when they heard the news. Ascent informed the affected families that the school opening was postponed until 2025.
Irmo Mayor Bill Danielson said the town only found out in May that it had been designated as the agency with permitting authority for the school by The S.C. Department of Education.
“The town of Irmo did not formally request or accept this designation,” Danielson said in a new release.
It’s unclear why the Department of Education designated Irmo as a permitting authority.
Derec Shuler, executive director of Ascent Classical Academy, took issue with comments made by Danielson in an article on the cancellation that appeared in the Lexington Chronicle last month.
In the article the Irmo mayor said Ascent Classical Academy did not go about an authorization process properly.
As allowed under state law, the State Superintendent of Education designated jurisdiction for the project to the Town of Irmo in April.
The town of Irmo wasn’t even notified of the plan until May 28, Danielson said.
Danielson adamantly denied that the town of Irmo should be blamed for the permit denial.
But Shuler said Mayor Danielson misstated the facts on this issue. He said the Town of Irmo directed Ascent to contact their contract building official on April 22, not late May as the mayor mentioned.
Shuler also took issue with Danielson’s comment that that he was directed to use his political position to approve the project.
Danielson refuted Shuler’s comments.
The school did not send over plans to permit until late May, Danielson said. The mechanical drawings were submitted on May 30. Those plans were disapproved for many reasons, including toilet problems, elevator problems, safety plans and student drop-off plans. He said Ascent then met with him on June 17 and asked that he interpret the requirements to code differently and use the “human element.”
“Bottom line Ascent decided to go political to try to bypass code requirements,” Danielson said.
The Charter School programs are now under scrutiny by state lawmakers concerned about charter school authorization and inconsistencies in South Carolina’s Charter Schools Act, which doesn’t contemplate potential conflicts of interest that have emerged in the years since its passage.
State lawmakers in May requested two separate audits of South Carolina’s largest authorizer, the Charter Institute at Erskine, to determine whether its leaders mishandled state funds or violated the law.
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