South Carolina requires children who are five years old on or before September 1 to be enrolled in a kindergarten program. If you choose not to enroll your child at age five, please review the following:

 

South Carolina law states, "students may enter Kindergarten in the public schools of this state if they will attain the age of five on or before September first of the applicable school year or have substantially initiated a public school kindergarten program in another state that has a different attendance age requirement from South Carolina. As such, if a child were enrolled and attending a public school kindergarten program in another state and moved during the school year, kindergarten placement would be honored.

FORM to Elect Non-Attendance in Compulsory Kindergarten:
The State of South Carolina also requires parents to complete the following document if they elect not to enroll their child in a Kindergarten program at age 5. Parents must acknowledge that Kindergarten attendance is compulsory for children in SC who are five years of age on or before September first, but parents may sign this waiver if they choose for their child not to attend. The child will be required to start 1st grade the following school year at age 6 unless the above documentation can be provided.

When a family has a request outside of the aforementioned placement:

In cases where a child will be 6 years old on or before September first, parents may request that the child be placed in kindergarten rather than first grade. Requests for kindergarten placement will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by a designated district-based team consisting of a principal, school psychologist, school counselor, and other relevant personnel. To qualify for kindergarten enrollment under extenuating circumstances, specific criteria will be considered. Please complete this jotform and the district's Executive Director of Elementary Education will follow up.