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District outlines draft attendance maps for two new Carolina Forest-area elementary schools, opens October comment period
Summary
Horry County Schools staff presented draft attendance boundaries for two new elementary schools—Carolina Forest Boulevard Elementary and Ronald McNair Boulevard Elementary—aimed at balancing enrollment across five schools to roughly 77% capacity; the draft will be posted online in October for about 30 days of public comment.
Horry County Schools presented draft attendance-area boundaries on Sept. 23 that would create two new elementary schools in the Carolina Forest area and the Ronald McNair Boulevard corridor and reshape assignments for five nearby schools.
Joe Burch, the district facilities/project lead, told the Facilities Committee the draft is designed to avoid splitting neighborhoods and to leave room for growth. "We've tried extremely hard and I think we're fairly % with not splitting any neighborhoods," Burch said, adding that the plan keeps most schools near the target utilization range and places the five schools at an average of about 77% capacity.
Burch summarized recent work with principals and advisory groups: he and transportation staff developed draft alignments, sought feedback from principals and the Carolina Forest Advisory Board, made adjustments and said the district will post the preferred alignment on the district website in early October. The public will be able to search by address and provide feedback during a roughly 30-day comment period, Burch said.
On current enrollment figures, Burch said the district counted 4,138 PK–5 children in 2023–24 who live in the affected zones and about 3,922 this year; the revised realignment, he said, holds schools largely in the mid-70s utilization range. "This puts the whole five schools roughly at 77% throughout," Burch said, adding that the numbers are based on students residing in the zones and do not include transfer students.
The district recommended limiting transfers into the new/redrawn zones for the first year the new schools open. "We're gonna recommend to you that we hold all transfers at red zone for one year, and all five of these schools for the first year they open," Burch said, noting the policy helps the new assignments settle.
Trustees and staff flagged outreach and accessibility: board members suggested placing printed flyers and QR codes at community centers and schools and using the district booth at Carolina Forest Day on Oct. 5 to display maps. Communications staff confirmed the district will explore QR codes, printed maps and on-site devices to help residents search proposed assignments.
Next steps: staff plan to post the draft maps in early October, collect public comments through October and November, and return to the Facilities Committee on Nov. 18. The item is scheduled for board consideration later in December with a target to finalize changes by the end of the calendar year.
