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Horry County schools weigh restoring assistant principals midyear amid discipline and staffing concerns
Summary
Board members heard a district presentation estimating $5.7 million would be required to restore additional assistant principals and were told the unassigned fund balance could cover it, but staff warned midyear hires could disrupt classrooms and would require using fund balance; members asked for a budget exercise and school-level prioritization for January allocations.
Horry County Schools’ joint Human Resources and Finance Committee on Wednesday heard staff say restoring additional assistant principal positions, as requested by school principals, would cost roughly $5,700,000 and would require drawing on the district’s unassigned fund balance.
District staff told the committee that as of 06/30/2024 there was about $31,200,000 available above the board’s 15% minimum fund-balance designation and that, if the board chooses to add assistant principals beginning Jan. 1, it would need to use those funds. "The cost of that is $5,700,000," a district staff presenter said during the meeting.
Why it matters: principals in several schools told board members they are short-handed, with some schools described as "red zone" campuses where principals are spending time covering school duties and working outside regular hours. Board members said additional assistant principals would ease that burden but raised questions about supply and logistics.
District HR staff cautioned that midyear postings carry trade-offs. HR staff said they would post positions and consider internal applicants, but if teachers step into assistant principal roles, that could create classroom vacancies requiring substitutes. "If those people come from our teaching ranks internally, that would be somewhat disruptive," an HR staff member said, noting uncertainty about external applicants for half-year positions.
Board members asked for school-level data to prioritize placements. Committee members recommended the administration identify the schools with the highest needs — for example, by enrollment, behavior incident rates or other criteria — and return in January or during budget workshops with a proposal that could include grouping allocations by elementary, middle and high schools.
The committee did not make a final decision; members instead asked the administration to run a budget exercise showing the cost to implement the proposal and to present a prioritized list of schools at the next allocation meeting. The committee also discussed whether behavioral policy changes could reduce the need for added assistant principals and requested discipline data to inform decisions.
What’s next: staff will prepare the budget exercise and school-level priorities for board consideration in January budget allocation meetings.
