Horry County Schools joins other districts in South Carolina and around the nation in celebration of School Board Recognition Month held annually each January. The theme of this year’s celebration, School Boards Speak Out For Public Schools, reflects a combined commitment of leadership and advocacy in support of quality, accountable public schools where all students achieve.

The Board of Education is made up of 12 members, 11 of which are elected from single-member districts with the chairman being elected at-large. The Board represents a countywide school system of 48 schools and nearly 38,000 students.  HCS is the county’s largest employer, with more than 5,200 full-time employees and a general fund budget of $308 million. 

As the governing body of the state’s third largest school district, the Board focuses attention and resources on student achievement results by setting goals and monitoring progress. During the past year, HCS has made progress in many areas of student achievement. Highlights include:

• On the 2008 Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, HCS students showed improvements in 12 of 24 scoring categories among students meeting state standards and in 21 of 24 categories among students scoring at higher levels. Student performance is higher than the state average in all grades and all subject areas for students meeting and exceeding state-level standards.
  
  
• Students gained four points on the 2008 SAT, bringing the composite score for critical reading and math to1005, which is 20 points above the state average of 985 and 12 points below the national average of 1017.
  
  
• On the American College Testing (ACT) exam, students increased six-tenths of a point and exceeded the state average on each of four content area tests as well as the composite score. HCS is within one point of the national average. Performance improved during the year while the number of test takers remained steady.  The average score for HCS students was 20.1, an increase of six-tenths of a point over 19.5 in 2007. The 2008 state composite score of 19.9 is three-tenths higher than 19.6 in 2007. The national composite score of 21.1 is down one-tenth from 21.2 in 2007. 
  
  
• Twelve percent more students participated in Advanced Placement courses and took AP exams in 2008 than in 2007. Districtwide, 828 students took a total of 1,191 exams. The percentage of students scoring between 3-5 on AP exams decreased to 52.6 percent, down eight-tenths of one percentage point from 53.4 percent last year. The state and national percentage of students scoring 3-5 on AP exams is 56 percent.
  
  
• On the High School Assessment Program (HSAP), the state’s exit exam, 83.5 percent of 10th graders passed on their first attempt in spring 2008, a 1.6 percent increase over 81.9 percent the previous year. Statewide, 80.8 percent of 10th graders passed the state’s high school exit exam on their first attempt.
  
  
• HCS met 81 percent, or 30 of its 37 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) objectives. None of the state’s 85 school districts made AYP for the second year in a row. AYP is an “all-or-nothing” rating system in which schools must meet performance goals for a number of student "subcategories" that include ethnicity, special education, poverty, and limited ability with English. 
  

Collectively, the Board of Education has more than 61 years of experience serving the schools and communities of Horry County. In addition to attending trainings, workshops and regular business meetings, members of the Board are actively involved in the support of schools through school visitations and constituent service.

The members of the Board of Education and the year in which their first term began are: Will Garland, Board Chairman, serving since 2000; Harvey Eisner, District #1, serving since 2006; MaryEllen Greene, District #2, serving since 1998; Joe DeFeo, District #3, serving since 2006; Kay Loftus, District #4, serving since 2002; Paul Peterson, District #5, serving since 2000; Pam Timms, District #6, serving since 1998; Paul Hudson, District #7, serving since 2001; John Poston, District #8, serving since 2008; David Cox, District #9, serving since 2008; Chris Shannon, Vice Chair, District #10, serving since 2002; and Trent Hardee, District #11, serving since 2008.

For more information about the Board of Education, visit http://www.horrycountyschools.net/about_us/board_of_education/.