SC Treasurer Awards First Loan from South Carolina Charter School Facility Revolving Loan Fund

South Carolina’s only charter school for students with dyslexia has received the state’s first loan from the South Carolina Charter School Facility Revolving Loan Fund Program. The low-interest loan, awarded by the SC Treasurer’s Office to Lakes and Bridges Charter School in Easley, will allow the school to transform a former commercial building on Easley’s Main Street into a viable school facility for students and teachers.

“The loan award is a significant contribution to our ongoing capital campaign to renovate our new school building,” said Nancy Linvill, Board Chair of Lakes and Bridges Charter School. “It allows us to have a building specifically designed for the first tuition-free public school for children with dyslexia in the entire Southeast.”

The $500,000 loan is the first award of its kind since the Revolving Loan Fund was established by the General Assembly in 2012. “The State Treasurer’s Office is pleased to have facilitated this loan through our debt management team, ensuring that both the school and the state are benefiting from this transaction,” said Curtis Loftis, State Treasurer. “We look forward to working with even more charter schools throughout the state to help them secure funding for their facility needs.”

When the fund was established, the General Assembly set aside an initial $2 million to be able to offer non-traditional funding to South Carolina’s charter schools for facility improvements and code compliance.

“This is an important program that provides our charter schools the facilities funds they need to ensure a great learning environment for students,” said Carol Aust, Executive Director of the Public Charter School Alliance of SC. “While there are millions of dollars available on the federal level for planning and implementing new charter schools, these state-specific dollars give South Carolina’s charter schools a funding source to make significant facility improvements that meet updated code requirements.”

Lakes and Bridges Charter School opened its doors in August 2018 with 115 students and 21 faculty and staff. Their evidence-based curriculum taught by trained teachers in innovative and welcoming classrooms is designed to meet the specific educational and social needs of children with dyslexia. Currently based at Crosswell Elementary, the school plans to start the 2019-2020 school year in its renovated facility at 1600 E. Main Street in Easley.

The State Treasurer's Office Charter School Facility Revolving Loan Program serves South Carolina’s public charter schools by providing startup and initial funds to construct, purchase, renovate and maintain public charter school facilities in order to assist schools in establishing high quality, high performing charter school operations for South Carolina’s students and their families.