South Carolina Grandparent Consent for School Permission Slips, Field Trips, and Medication

The Everyday Forms Nobody Warns You About

Enrolling a child is one hurdle. Then the permission slips start arriving — field trips, picture day, school medication authorization, sports physicals, access to report cards. Each form asks for a "parent/guardian" signature, and if you're a grandparent or relative without that title, you might hesitate.

The good news: South Carolina gives you clear authority to handle all of this, depending on which document you hold.

What the School Affidavit Covers

If you enrolled the child using the caregiver affidavit under § 59-63-32, you accepted responsibility for making educational decisions. That includes:

• Permission slips for field trips and school activities
• Report cards and progress reports — you're the educational decision-maker on file
• Parent-teacher conferences — the school should contact you, not the absent parent
• School medication authorization — completing the form that allows the school nurse to administer prescribed medication during the day

The affidavit establishes you as the adult making educational decisions within the school system. School staff shouldn't route these forms to a parent who isn't involved in the child's daily care.

What the POA Adds

A caregiving POA under § 63-15-720 covers everything the school affidavit does, plus activities outside the school:

• Sports physicals at a doctor's office (the doctor needs medical consent authority, not just school authority)
• Extracurricular enrollment — community sports leagues, summer camps, after-school programs
• Daycare and before/after care contracts
• School counseling consent for in-school therapy programs

If you only have the school affidavit, you can sign a field trip form but might get pushback on a sports physical consent form from the pediatrician — that's medical consent, not educational.

Access to School Records (FERPA)

Under federal FERPA law, access to a student's education records goes to the "parent" — and for FERPA purposes, a grandparent or relative who has been granted educational decision-making authority through the state's enrollment affidavit qualifies. You can request transcripts, attendance records, disciplinary records, and IEP documentation.

Note that biological parents generally retain FERPA access rights too, unless a court order specifically restricts it. Granting you access doesn't block theirs.

Free and Reduced School Meals

Children in kinship care may qualify for free school meals. If the child receives SNAP or TANF (Family Independence in South Carolina), is in foster care, or is identified under McKinney-Vento, they're directly certified — no application needed. Otherwise, you fill out a Free and Reduced-Price Meals Application based on household income. In an informal kinship arrangement, the child is counted as a member of your household for this purpose.

McKinney-Vento eligible children — those living with you because of a housing emergency — are automatically eligible for free meals.

When Forms Ask for "Parent/Guardian"

Cross out "parent/guardian" and write "caregiver under SC Code § 63-15-720" or "caregiver under SC Code § 59-63-32" next to your signature. Some districts' internal forms already include a "caregiver" option. If a teacher or administrator pushes back, the school's central office should have your affidavit or POA on file — direct them there.

The School and Medical Consent Guide for South Carolina includes a document submission log so you can track which forms you've given to which office, and a checklist for the start of each school year when paperwork needs refreshing.

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