South Carolina

Overview

During the 2021-2022 school year, South Carolina preschool enrolled 25,276 children, an increase of 3,983 from the prior year, as the program began to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State spending totaled $92,548,026 with an additional $4,618,113 in federal recovery funds to support the program, down $9,203,333 (9%), adjusted for inflation since last year. State spending per child (including federal recovery funds) equaled $3,844 in 2021-2022, down $1,151 from 2020-2021, adjusted for inflation. South Carolina met 7 of 10 quality standards benchmarks.

What's New

In December 2022, South Carolina was awarded a federal Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five (PDG B–5) planning grant for $3,734,616 to support professional learning opportunities for the ECCE workforce; create a statewide pre-K common application portal; increase access to ECCE programs; support families; and continue the development of the SC Early Childhood Integrated Data System (SC ECIDS) and dashboards. As a compliment to the SC ECIDS work, South Carolina is entering the third year of a federal data systems grant focused on extending the current K–12 longitudinal data system to include early learning partners. 

Beginning in 2021-2022, a new summer program was offered to incoming or continuing preschoolers and incoming kindergartners. For 2021-2022 only, a state proviso allowed students who were eligible for the Child Early Reading Development and Education Program (CERDEP) for the previous school year but did not participate due to COVID-19 concerns, to enroll in CERDEP rather than kindergarten. First Steps “4K PLUS Siblings”, in partnership with the division of the Department of Social Services offers half-time scholarships to all enrolled First Steps 4K students to cover before and after school care and holidays for the enrolled 4K student. 

As of July 2021, all school districts can offer CERDEP for income-eligible students. Previously, only districts meeting the law’s poverty threshold were eligible; now, any district with at least one school with 60% or more students in poverty may operate CERDEP classrooms.

Background

South Carolina funds two preschool programs: the Education Improvement Act Child Development Program (EIA 4K) and the public/ private CERDEP. Both programs are delivered in public school settings via the South Carolina Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning and Literacy (OELL). CERDEP is co-administered in private preschool settings by South Carolina First Steps (First Steps 4K), the state’s school readiness initiative.

 EIA 4K, initiated in 1984, is funded as part of a one-cent sales tax supporting public education projects. Eligibility for EIA 4K is prioritized by law for children eligible for FRPL or Medicaid and allows for consideration of children with documented developmental delays. EIA 4K districts may then set their own eligibility criteria from a state-specified list of risk factors. State funding is allocated to districts by OELL using a formula according to the number of kindergarten students who qualify for FRPL in each district. School districts now provide full-day programs, with the exception of a few continuing to offer half-day programs.

CERDEP, originally called the Child Development Education Pilot Program (CDEPP), was created as a pilot program in 2006 in response to Abbeville County School District, et. al. v. South Carolina, a lawsuit initiated by rural school districts regarding school equity funding, the program was codified in 2014 along with the state’s Read to Succeed legislation (Act 284). 

To monitor quality, OELL conducts visits including an evaluation based on the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation (ELLCO) used to provide feedback and support to ensure classrooms are language- and literacy-rich. Some programs receive additional monitoring, which includes a fidelity verification measuring curriculum implementation.

South Carolina Child Early Reading Development and Education Program and EIA/4K

Access

Some Head Start children may also be counted in state pre-K. Estimates children in special education not also enrolled in state pre-K or Head Start.
Total state pre-K enrollment	25,276
School districts that offer state program	100%
Income requirement	185% FPL
Minimum hours of operation	CERDEP: 6.5 hours/day; EIA 4K: 4 hours/day, 5 days/week
Operating schedule	School or academic year
Special education enrollment, ages 3 and 4	5,100
Federally funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	9,973
State-funded Head Start enrollment, ages 3 and 4	0

Resources

Pre-K programs may receive additional funds from federal or local sources that are not included in this figure. K–12 expenditures include capital spending as well as current operating expenditures. Head Start per-child spending includes funding only for 3- and 4-year-olds.