What Is an SIC?
A School Improvement Council (SIC) is an advisory body to the principal and school.
SICs are focused on school improvement. SIC members participate in writing the school improvement plan by sharing their knowledge about student, family, and community needs and suggesting ideas for effective change. Under South Carolina’s new Read to Succeed law, SICs also advise their school on plans to improve student reading levels.
SICs engage in a wide range of activities that support schools in achieving their goals for improvement. For example, SICs may choose to collaborate with their schools on:
- Finding innovative and efficient ways to include more parents in their children's education.
- Bringing in volunteers, funds, goods and services, or other needed resources from the community to the school.
State law requires that every K-12 public school have a SIC that includes:
At least two parents elected by parents.
- At least two teachers elected by teachers.
- At least two students elected by students (required only for grade nine and above).
- Community members who do not have children enrolled at the school, appointed by the principal.
- The principal and other ex-officio members.
Kids Do Better in School When Parents Are Involved
A parent's active involvement in their child's education has been proven by education experts to improve a child's performance in school.
One way for parents to become involved is through serving on the school's SIC. Parents on the school’s SICs are not expected to be experts in managing a school or a classroom. While it is true that your school requires guidance from educational professionals, it also needs valuable and relevant information from parents about the unique needs and strengths of the students and families at your school. This information aids your school in making decisions that enhance student progress, growth, and achievement.
The opportunity to become more knowledgeable about their school and cultivate relationships with the principal, other parents, teachers, and community members is another advantage and benefit of being on the school’s SIC.
Successful Schools Benefit EVERYONE
The entire community benefits, including taxpayers who do not currently have children in school when we have great schools in the community.
Property values increase, students graduate with skills that local employers need to compete in a 21st-century economy, and businesses that provide better-paying jobs will be attracted to the community which in turn creates more customers for local businesses.
A stronger local economy strengthens the whole community by raising living standards and by encouraging our children to stay and serve the community where they grew up.
*** This SIC excerpt, which is designed to assist school-level SICs operate more uniformly was adapted from similar documents found on the State of South Carolina’s SIC, Bamberg County School District, and Richland County District 2 websites.
