CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A Lowcountry charter school is set to have its charter revoked following a decision by the South Carolina Public Charter School District (SCPCSD) earlier this year.

Attorneys for Charleston Advancement Academy High School (CAA) have filed a motion with the South Carolina Administrative Law for a stay of the revocation decision, which is set to go into effect on June 30.

According to the school’s website, CAA is “helping young adults overcome real-life challenges to earn their South Carolina state-issued high school diploma.”

In a summary of the motion, attorneys claim the decision to revoke CAA’s charter “was underpinned and motivated by likey unethical and illegal financial ties between SCPCSD officials and a for-profit, Chicago-based private sector company that provides school management services for a fee, Acceleration Academies (AA).”

AA was brought in as the school’s education management organization when the school opened in 2018.

According to the summary of the motion filed by CAA attorneys, “When the CAA board voted to terminate AA in late 2019, that action triggered conspiratorial activities between SCPCSD and AA officials intended to undermine and eventually destroy CAA.”

Before the revocation decision was made, CAA requested to transfer oversight from SCPCSD to a different charter school association. That decision was denied by SCPCSD board members, and in a letter to CAA notifying them of that decision, it was also written that the district board voted to provide a notice of revocation.

The letter to the CAA Board Chair explains the grounds for revocation are “CAA committed a material violation of the conditions, standards, performance expectations or procedures provided for in the charter school application or charter school contract; or both.” And that “CAA failed to meet the academic performance standards and expectations as defined in the charter school application or charter school contract, or both.”

CAA attorneys claim that SCPCSD board member’s decision to revoke CAA’s charter was “a process that was defective and violated multiple laws.”

“There was no recommendation by district staff that it be revoked; there was no remediation that’s kind of what is required — none of that took place,” explained Edward Pritchard, an attorney for CAA. “And it’s our position that the charter revocation was illegal in that it didn’t follow the necessary requirements in the Freedom of Information Act and the Charter Schools Act.”

Pritchard said that board members never mentioned the potential for revocation leading up to the decision on January 19, 2023, and that SCPCSD did not evaluate the charter school’s performance as required by law.

The motion includes several other claims including that the SCPCSD board “did not include revocation on its meeting agenda” and “did not issue any sanctions against CAA or require corrective action in the SCPCSD Superintendent’s most recent annual evaluation of CAA.”

Attorneys for CAA and the SCPCSD board are expected to appear for a hearing in South Carolina Administrative Court this week.

SCPCSD officials said they are unable to comment on the matter because the case is currently in litigation. They added that their response would be filed in court this week.