SC senators request investigation into use of K-12 vouchers for homeschooling

COLUMBIA — State senators are asking an oversight agency to investigate the education department’s use of K-12 school choice scholarships for homeschooling expenses.

Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree made the request Tuesday, two weeks after he and other senators grilled state Superintendent Ellen Weaver over her agency’s decision to give homeschooling students taxpayer money for their education needs despite legislators explicitly saying they were excluded from the program.

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Senators want hard numbers on how many students are using the money for schooling at home, which the agency calls “unbundling.” Weaver previously said 1,182 students indicated they would use the money for some sort of schooling at home, but some have since switched to private school, so she didn’t know how many actually used it for that purpose.

Nor could she give numbers on how many students learned from home using the funds during the program’s initial year.

Hembree said Tuesday he’s “real concerned about the lack of hard data” overall involving the scholarship money, “but specifically this ‘unbundler’ program.”

He’s requesting a review by the Legislative Audit Council, which investigates agencies at legislators’ request.

The goal is “not to try to tear it up, but really to try to make it stronger,” Hembree said, referring to the entire program.

He didn’t have major concerns about other parts, he said, but wanted the investigation to look at all of it just in case.

But those answers won’t come in time for this legislative session. A review by the council takes months.

Five signatures are needed to submit a request. Hembree had enough support within Tuesday’s subcommittee. All four other members, two Republicans and two Democrats, said they agreed with him.

They echoed Hembree’s concerns that the department’s interpretation on homeschooling expenses was the opposite of what legislators intended.

“This whole thing is so disappointing to me,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.

The senators unanimously advanced a bill meant to close the loophole the Department of Education used to award money to homeschoolers.

Until legislators have a more solid idea of the numbers involved, Hembree said he might propose capping the program at 10,000 students for a second year.

Under the law signed last year that revamped the program, the Legislature is supposed to fund at least 15,000 scholarships in the coming school year.

But legislators could insert a clause in the state budget to put that scheduled increase on hold.

That’s a conversation to have during the budget process, Hembree added.

The application window for the coming school year has already opened.