A charter school that was set to open in Irmo this fall has postponed classes for a full year because of a dispute with the town over permitting for its temporary home.
Ascent Classical Academy was scheduled to open for classes this fall but announced this week that it would have to delay opening until the 2025-26 school year, disrupting the lives of hundreds of students and staff who had expected to begin school within weeks.
Ascent had planned to hold classes in St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, holding kindergarten through eighth grade classes in the church’s education building until the school could move into a more permanent location. But the academy’s board voted Tuesday to delay its planned opening in August for a full school year.
The academy said in a news release that the town had approved a change of use for the building in early May and the school was working through “minor upgrades” to ensure Ascent could start classes in the fall. But last week, Irmo’s building inspection contractor CC&I informed the school that the project exceeded its contract with the town and withdrew from the process, according to the school’s news release.
Ascent is part of a Colorado-based network of public charter schools that focus on a traditional liberal arts curriculum. Its planned South Carolina campuses, including in Irmo, are sponsored by the Charter Institute at Erskine College, which sponsors other charter schools around the state.
Derec Shuler, the executive director of Ascent Classical Academies, told The State his organization had been working with the town and CC&I for almost two months to get the school open, and he was left scrambling by the “last minute” decision to withdraw. He noted Ascent had paid to submit its plans through a web portal provided to them by the town.
“Irmo has an obligation to review anything in their community. It’s an obligation to accept it, in our view,” Shuler said. “This letter isn’t in the best interests of the community, and we were surprised the town hasn’t picked this up so hundreds of families can go to school.”
Shuler said about 300 students were ready to go to school next month. Their families had already withdrawn them from other schools and have now missed the deadline to register them for the fall semester elsewhere. In addition, around 25 staff were hired to begin work this fall, some of whom moved to South Carolina for their job.
In a news release Tuesday, the town said it only found out in May that Irmo had been designated as the agency with permitting authority over the school by the S.C. Department of Education.
“The Town of Irmo did not formally request or accept this designation,” the news release said. The town does not permit other public schools within its boundaries, and the town’s attorney “strongly advised” against accepting the designation.
When Irmo reviewed Ascent’s plans for retrofitting the church property for classrooms, the town identified “several issues requiring discussion, including traffic concerns related to three nearby schools, as well as fire code and ADA accessibility compliance,” according to the town’s news release.
Irmo Mayor Bill Danielson told The State any permitting for a school property should be the responsibility of the state Department of Education.
“Normally, public schools are overseen by their building management,” Danielson said. “To do permitting and upkeep, it all goes through them.” But he said Ascent apparently “went to the secretary of education and asked to make us the authority, and that was not at our request or even our knowledge until we got the letter.”
Town Administrator Courtney Dennis said he never had a direct conversation with Ascent or the department about the town permitting the school and only found out about it when his assistant was copied on a letter to Shuler from state Superintendent Ellen Weaver.
He said the town’s zoning process would not normally cover the kinds of improvements he said are needed for Ascent to be able to open in the church building, and a longer review period would likely be needed for any changes to be completed and signed off on.
“These conversations are being held in May with a goal of opening August,” Dennis said. “That seems like a pretty tight opportunity to get the school open.”
Danielson noted that CC&I has done inspection work with the state department in the past, and the contractor has indicated they would be willing to do similar work on Ascent Classical Academy. But the mayor said that would need to be worked out in a contract between CC&I and the Education Department separate from the town’s responsibility for the property.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said in an email that the department “continues to have extensive conversations with all parties involved,” and is “hopeful a resolution can be reached to best serve students and families.”
Shuler said the school plans to open next year in a permanent location on Koon Road between Broad River Road and Interstate 26. While Ascent has yet to close on the property, Shuler said the academy already has the permitting to build a larger school on the site. “But that doesn’t do anything for the families that expected to start school this year.”
Editor’s note: this story has been updated with comments from Ascent Classical Academy.
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