One new charter school rejected by SCHSL panel, another approved. Here’s what we know

The South Carolina High School League executive committee approved membership for one charter school and denied another at Tuesday’s meeting.

The committee voted 11-4 in favor of American Leadership Academy in Lexington to have an at-large member next year and then go into a region the following year after the league’s realignment goes into effect. The school will open next year and be for grades K-12.

But the league denied Atlantic Collegiate Academy, 10-4, which will open next year in the Myrtle Beach area.

The denial isn’t unprecedented, as Rock Hill’s Legion Collegiate Academy was denied its membership in the SCHSL before the executive committee but was approved by the appellate panel. But charter schools have generally been granted the right to participate in SCHSL without appeal.

“The South Carolina High School League is a great organization,” Atlantic principal Mike Lorenz said. “For us to compete on this level is great competition is what we are looking for. We want to participate in the high school league.”

Lorenz said there was no contingency plan if they weren’t accepted. Atlantic has 24 hours to announce if it will appeal.

Atlantic is set to open at a temporary campus in the fall and move into a permanent one in Conway the following year. The school will draw from the Carolina Forest High School attendance zone. Carolina Forest is in Class 5A, the state’s largest classification.

Lorenz said the school will never go over 700 students in high school, which likely would keep it in Class 2A, the state’s second smallest classification. Of the 700 students, about 60% would likely play athletics.

The school wanted to be an at-large member this year and then move into Region 8-2A next year with Andrews, Kingstree, Lee Central, Marion and Mullins. But SCHSL officials stated during Tuesday’s presentation that region had denied Atlantic’s request to join.

Atlantic is affiliated with the Pinnacle Group, which oversees Legion Collegiate in Rock Hill and Oceanside Collegiate in Mount Pleasant. Pinnacle also managed Gray Collegiate in West Columbia, but Gray officials said earlier this year they’re ending their partnership with Pinnacle after the 2022-23 school year.

Legion is no longer affiliated with the SCHSL and is with the North Carolina Independent Schools Association. This February, the school announced it’s dropping football for fall 2023.

Oceanside and Gray Collegiate, which are both in Class 2A, have enjoyed great success athletically over the last few years.

In March, Gray won the Class 2A boys and girls basketball state championships. The War Eagles won their first football state championship in 2021 and their first softball title a year ago. The competitive cheer team won its first championship in the fall, and the baseball and boys soccer team played for a state title last year.

Oceanside won the Class 3A baseball championship last year and, now in 2A, is a favorite to win a title there. The Landsharks also played for boys basketball and football state championships.

Charter schools and private schools won all but two of this school year’s Class A and Class 2A fall and winter team state championships. That topic of competitive balance has been a hot topic among smaller classifications and came up as Lorenz stated his school’s case to want to be part of the SCHSL.

“What’s this process of addressing competitive advantage among league membership?” committee member Darryl Owings said.

SCHSL commissioner Jerome Singleton said there is no process and there is a provision in the state legislature that “prohibits (the) organization from addressing what is perceived to be a competitive imbalance.”

Singleton added any application would be put in involving all member schools.

“Our constituents by and large are getting to the point where people are becoming frustrated, and that isn’t going to become good for the league,” committee member Sonya Bryant said. “I don’t know what the answer is but this organization as a whole has got to find a way to address it.”

Singleton responded by saying that they would have to change the legislative ruling for that to happen.

“The question is not the public school, charter school, private school that wins all the time,” Singleton said. “It is what authority you have to do anything about it. If the membership wants to address it, they will have to address that piece. Get back your authority to make changes to create a balanced playing field based on that perception.”

There was not as much pushback during American Leadership Academy’s presentation, which was done by director Michael Gordon-Smith and athletic director Ray Canady, who previously held the same role at Irmo.

American Leadership Academy is set to open two K-12 schools in Lexington (2023) and Greenville (2024). Former NFL quarterback Ty Detmer is affiliated with American Leadership Academy in Arizona.

American Leadership, which also has North Carolina locations, is looking to have an enrollment of 2,000 from K-12 with 600 coming from 9-12 grades.

Like Atlantic, ALA touted its commitment to academics and athletics. But unlike Atlantic and some of the other charter schools, it has more of a traditional day with classes going from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Atlantic, in its presentation, also talked about its strict dress code of no hair below the ears and no facial hair for boys. The use of profanity also wouldn’t be tolerated and would be dealt with if a student does it.

Atlantic’s school day would be broken into two sessions with students going to class from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and then practice after class. The other students would practice before school in the morning and go to class in the afternoon.

Lorenz, Atlantic’s president, said the goal is to have students home in the early evening by 5:30 p.m. on non-game nights and also emphasized the school’s dual enrollment program, which gives students a chance to earn college credit.