S.C. Code Ann. § 59-67-540

The Department of Transportation shall be responsible for providing all supplies required for the operation of state-owned school buses and for maintaining them in efficient and safe mechanical condition. The department shall be reimbursed periodically by the State Board of Education for expenditures incident to the operation and maintenance of buses, but no charge by, or reimbursement to, the Department of Transportation shall be made except to cover direct and additional expenses incurred by the department on account of the performance of this service. Provided, however, that the Board of Education shall have authority to establish and operate maintenance and supply stations, on an experimental or permanent basis, if it should be determined to be of advantage to the State, and in connection therewith to acquire real property by purchase or lease.