South Carolina schools cannot require minimum grades above actual student performance

Public schools cannot require teachers to give minimum grades above a student's actual performance on required assignments. The rule covers South Carolina public schools and districts, including charter schools and charter school districts. If a district is found to violate this rule, the South Carolina Department of Education must withhold 10 percent of its State Aid to Classroom funding. The law took effect July 1, 2026.

Students must meet assignment requirements before joining district-approved programs to recover course credit or catch up on course content. Students must submit all course assignments to recover course credit. To catch up on part of a course, they must complete all required assignments for that part. Students must follow district rules for timely submission of their work. Districts may still adopt policies for these recovery programs. These requirements took effect July 1, 2026.

Districts cannot require certain tests that track learning progress to count toward final grades. The limits cover specified state-required progress tests and district-selected benchmark tests, which check student learning during a course. A district-selected benchmark test can count toward a course grade only if it is developed or directly accessible to the teacher before testing and measures only material already taught. Districts may require benchmark tests to guide teaching. Results from district-developed benchmark tests must be available promptly to educators, students, and parents. These testing rules took effect July 1, 2026.

The State Board of Education must establish a task force to review the statewide grading policy, consider its findings, and adopt any policy updates. Public school districts, including charter school districts, must put any policy updates into practice. The task force includes educators, school board representatives, and high school students. The review covers how schools calculate final grades and grade point averages. Its goals include making grades meaningful and reducing reliance on recovery programs. The law says the statewide grading policy should then be reviewed and updated at least every seven years. The law required the task force to be formed before the 2026–2027 school year. Its report is due before June 1, 2027. Districts must implement any updates no later than the 2028–2029 school year.