A proposed state law that could make it easier to create charter schools in Charleston County has been held up in the state Senate.

The law would clarify guidelines for student discipline and the use of school buildings, both of which have been stumbling blocks for schools considering a switch to a charter school. This bill is specific to Charleston County.

Charter schools are public schools run by governing boards of faculty, parents and community members. A charter school can form as a new school or as a public school that converts to a charter school.

James Island High School was the first high school in the state and only the second school ever to convert to a charter school. The state's charter law provided some guidance, but the school had to work out a lot of things on its own.

That included determining the way to handle student discipline at the school, which the charter high school did by adopting the district's discipline rules with a few changes. The charter high school also had to negotiate with the district for its building. It ended up paying $1 a year to rent the building from the district.

"Lots of things we encountered weren't necessarily roadblocks placed in the legislation, but the legislation was vague and weak," said Robert Bohnstengel, assistant principal at James Island Charter High. "We wanted to make sure the next time around, whether for us in renewal or another school that wanted to convert, there were more clearly defined lines."

South Carolina has 19 charter schools this year, and nine are scheduled to open in the fall. Charleston County has five charter schools.

The bill would clarify the rules surrounding discipline and use of buildings. But while it was on the Senate calendar Tuesday, it is stuck in limbo.

Sens. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, and Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, attached their names to the bill, requesting to be present when it is discussed. In the Senate, such a move is often enough to stop a bill.

"They're killing it," said Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, who sponsored the bill with Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charles-ton. "It doesn't even concern them. I don't know why they oppose it."

Pinckney said he and Ford put their names on the bill so "we would have a chance to look at it and see what the bill entailed."

One concern Pinckney mentioned was the power the bill would give charter schools to expel students.

The bill says a charter school board can suspend, expel or transfer a student. The school can also bar students from enrolling if discipline records show they committed certain crimes. Current charter school law requires a charter include discipline and behavior standards. Scarborough said the law is not clear enough.

Other items in the bill specify that a charter school can use corporal punishment, that the charter board may "regulate, control, or prohibit clubs or other activities on school property or during school hours," that hazing is prohibited and that the charter board should adopt rules for "paging devices."

Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston, favors the bill and said he thinks supporters have the votes needed to move it back onto the schedule and get it passed.

When it comes to buildings, the bill states that any Charleston County school that becomes a charter school should not have to rent or buy its building. Scarborough said charging rent is punitive.

"It's still a public school," he said. "It would be improper for the school system to charge rent on James Island and not all of the others."