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Board approves $700,000 in literacy supports; accepts external audit in special-call session
Summary
The board approved two school-level literacy strategies totaling $700,000 to reduce third-grade retention risk and accepted the external auditor's report; staff presented goals tied to MAP reading scores and accountability for spending.
The Horry County Schools Board of Education voted Feb. 20 to approve two literacy support strategies funded from undesignated general funds and took action to accept the external audit in a special-call session held immediately after the work session.
The board approved two items presented by district staff: a third-grade retention support strategy funded at $300,000 and a K–3 supplemental reading strategy funded at $400,000. Together the allocations total $700,000. The motions passed by voice or machine vote; the board did not record individual tallies in the public transcript.
District staff presented the rationale and numeric goals for the proposals. Lee James (presenter) told the board there are 3,545 third-grade students in the district and that 1,068 of those students did not have a MAP reading score of 187 or higher. Of those 1,068, staff identified 313 students with special-education good-cause exemptions and 112 multilingual learners with good-cause exemptions. Staff reported 643 third-graders without a qualifying MAP score who are at risk of retention; 237 of those students are within six MAP RIT points of the 187 target and 406 are further below the threshold.
The approved $300,000 allocation is intended to let schools hire or expand hours for positive-pay interventionists or implement after‑school tutoring targeted at third graders with MAP scores below 187. Staff said schools would receive a base amount plus an allocation per at-risk third-grade student; the average allocation per school was presented as about $12,000. The $400,000 K–3 strategy will provide supplemental reading resources across schools, with accountability for both spending and outcomes; staff presented an average per-school figure of approximately $14,500.
During the special-call session, the board accepted the external auditor’s report and voted that the district met the monitoring requirement for OE-6 (financial condition and activities). A board member moved to accept the auditor’s report and another seconded; the chair noted the vote was unanimous.
Superintendent Clifford Jones characterized the literacy items as a “conversation starter” and underscored that staff aimed to prioritize interventions where they would have the most impact in the limited days remaining in the school year. Some board members raised timing and efficiency concerns given that fewer than 75 instructional days remain before the end of the year and that the state’s cut scores for the updated assessment had not been set; other members argued the district should use undesignated funds to support direct instruction now.
Board members approved the two literacy strategies by motion and machine vote; the transcript records that the motion passed. Staff said principals would have discretion to shape school-level plans and that academic leaders would monitor results.
