Board Work Session 01/12/26

001Good evening and thank you all for being here. A brand new year and we're looking forward to it. Before we get started, I'd like to have Mr. Edwards pledge of allegiance. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you asking you to forgive me of anything I've done, said or thought it was displeasing to you that you might hear my petitions. And Lord, I thank you for the season that we just celebrated, the season of hope. And God, we pray that that Christmas and holiday break was well received and enjoyed by all. And we pray that you just provide your continued blessings throughout this new calendar year of 2026 to all of our staff, teachers, administrators, district personnel, our superintendent, and all our board members. But most importantly, importantly for

002each and every student that attends Horry county schools and their parents and guardians as well. Lord, we pray that we thank you for the gifts and talents of all the personnel of this district and all the staff. And we continue to pray for strong leadership by our superintendent and all the staff and personnel from the most visible to the least. And may you put your hedge of protection around each and every one of them. And God, we thank you for just every person that's involved in Horry County Schools and the facilitation of learning that goes on here. And Lord, help us to make all of our decisions, each and every one, based on the best interests, interest of our students. And help us to assist as a body to bring the most positive, vibrant and

003creative instructional environment that we can bring to them. And Lord, we thank you for your love, mercy and grace and all you've done for us, all you're going to do. And Lord, we pray that we honor you with our living in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you, Ms. J. Edwards. Let's stand for the pledge of. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Be seated. Now I need a motion to start this proceedings. Move to approve. Mr. Chairman. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Approve. Like sign. Hearing None. We are ready to get an approval for the agenda. So moved. Second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed

004like sign Hearing None. The motions Approval is passed now. Approval of minutes from December 8th. Move to approve. Second. Okay. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed like signed? Is there not any? We move directly into discussion. Ms. Dawson, you had a policy committee report for us. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Jones and staff. This was our sixth policy committee meeting of the year we have four more meetings remaining. Our agenda and minutes were approved without amendments in our previous meeting. We took up BSR4 on November 3rd and suggestions were made for staff to present today. In reviewing those revisions, a number of other changes clarifications were identified. We've asked staff to ask the superintendent to have staff go back and draft a second round of revisions which will be presented in our February 9th

005meeting. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could take up our last agenda Item which was BSR5, which will now roll to our next meeting. And at our next meeting we will also take up the process for our after meeting surveys which I will remind everybody to access your QR code and perform your post meeting survey. We will be gathered. We will help define the workflow and process and reporting around how we're going to handle the report results of these surveys as we move forward for consideration by the policy committee. I'm grateful for the time and effort our committee members invest in this policy committee. Today's meeting reflected significant time and talent that these committee members bring to the table. I appreciate their time. And that concludes my report. All the capita take. Any

006questions? Questions? Hearing? None. Thank you, ma'. Am. Now, I think you want us to consider a revision. Ms. Dawson. I'm sorry? You gave us a committee report? Yes. That include the revisions? Oh, that's the next item. Yes. I can proceed if you would like, please. BSR3 was taken up in in our November 3rd meeting. It was reviewed in our December 8th meeting. The committee unanimously approved the draft changes which are before you tonight for consideration. Our committee strongly recommend reminds that we move that forward as a business item in our next board meeting. Thank you, ma'. Am. Now I'll ask Mr. Jones to give us a notice of schedule. Sure. Chairman Cox and board members. The next item for discussion is the notice of the Board education meeting schedule as required by South Carolina code

0073480, which outlines the proposed dates, times, locations for board meetings during the 26th calendar year as required by law. This notice ensures transparency for the public and provides advanced notice when and where the board intends to conduct its official business. In developing this proposed schedule, we made deliberate efforts to align meetings on the second, fourth Mondays of the month whenever feasible, recognizing the importance of consistency for board members for their time and their talents. This structure supports predictable planning while still allowing flexibility for budgets, timelines, holidays and other things. So you'll notice that the calendar includes a traditional board retreat as well, Chairman Cox, in the late September and intentionally scheduled to allow for Deeper discussion. Discussion of timely governance, strategic priorities, academic data and long range planning. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Next, I'd like

008to ask our external auditors, Balden and Jenkins to step forward to give us a monitoring report. Chairman. Sorry I hadn't requested to talk. Oh, I beg your pardon. Hold on, guys. I missed that. Go ahead. Yes, Mr. Superintendent. I just want to verify that this latest version is the correct one as we have received previous printouts when April 29 was listed as the board retreat. So April 20 is current and correct now. Thank you for that. For noticing that, Ms. Winters. And yes, this is the correct version. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry about that, Tracy. Now I'd ask you guys to come up, please, Is my presentation. Tim, give us one second. We got somebody in the back who's trying to help you out as well. Okay. But go ahead and introduce yourself. And let's

009start. My name is Tim Lyons. I'm with Malden and Jenkins if you want to go to the next slide. One more. I serve as the engagement partner for this for the district's annual external financial and compliance audits. Brian Nicholson is also listed on. There is our quality control review partner. I think it's important I point this out for all the presentations that I do like this that all of our audits go through. Not only my review as the engagement partner, but then a second partner review that is not at all associated with the audit. Who conducts a kind of a second independent review, second set of eyes. Brian works with about 15 school districts in the state. So he and I do a lot of these audits together. And then Adrienne Berg is a senior

010associate and she's also worked on this, the district's audit for the last five years as well. So an engagement team that has served the district for the last five years and certainly is well acquainted with the district's operations and financial reporting. On the next slide. This is kind of our results of the audit. The not to kind of bury the lead, if you will, but the report on the basic financial statements, our opinion was unmodified, which is a fancy accounting auditing term for a clean opinion. There's no higher or better opinion or grade or anything that you can get when we issue our opinion on the financial statements. I do point out because the district's financial statements do include charter schools that are audited by other auditors. And so our opinion does make reference to

011the fact that the charter schools were audited by other auditors. We did not audit them. In our opinion is is based on the clean Opinions issued by those other auditors on the charter school. So we have some communications with those auditors. We get a copy of their peer review report. We don't review any of their work papers, but we make sure the standards tell us we have to make sure that they are experienced and have knowledge in what they're doing. And so we have some communications with them. But our opinion does rely on those reports of the other auditors for the charter school. Starting on the next couple of slides, these are what are known as the required communications. These are the things that the audit standards require that I submit to you all in

012writing. So I've done that, and I'm not going to go through and read each one of these, but a couple of these that I think are important to touch on underneath this accounting policies. The fourth bullet there about new accounting pronouncements. If you're somebody that kind of maybe looks at the two years, if you've got accountant, the acfr, and you kind of compare, compare the two, you won't see any significant changes in financial reporting from 2024 to 2025. There were two new standards that the district was required to consider in its financial reporting this year, but those two standards did not have an impact on the district's financial statements. On the next slide, we talk about our relationship with management. I think it's important for those charged with governance to hear from the auditor about

013our relationship with management during the conduct of the the audit. We receive full cooperation from the school district's management and staff and really appreciate the efforts of John and Tracy and everybody else as we, as we work our way through the audit. You know, these audits now, the reports big. We ask for a lot of information. We ask for access to a lot of different people and really appreciate the district being proactive and helping us to talk to everybody we need to talk to and get information from everybody we need to get information from when we conduct the audit. On the next slide, all the way at the bottom, auditor independence. I think it's very important to touch on the fact that not only do we have to be independent in accordance with our own

014ethical requirements, but that because we conduct the audit in accordance with government auditing standards, we're required to check even more boxes to say that yes, we are independent of the district and therefore we can render an opinion on the district's financial statements. And so we meet all of the ethical standards, but those of government auditing standards as well. On the next slide, we'll touch on the federal compliance audit this year, I think, you know, this year was a unique year. The federal compliance supplement, which is the big document that the Office of Management and Budget puts out every year, that that document essentially serves as our audit program when we're testing federal awards. And this is not just at Horry county schools. This is at every single entity that expends more than $750,000 a year

015in federal funding. This compliance supplement tells us what we have to audit and how we have to audit it and all the steps we have to go through. That document is normally issued by the Office of Management and Budget in May or June of each year. This year, it was not issued until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And we really appreciate the feds doing that to the audit community, not even waiting until after Thanksgiving. It was very late this year. There was a draft supplement that was out, and we conducted all of our testing in accordance with the draft supplement. But of course, we could not issue a final report until that came out. The South Carolina Department of Education adjusted their due dates. December 1st is traditionally the due date. But being aware of the

016fact that we could not issue these reports, they adjusted that due date into January. Of course, already being so proactive, and we were able to get all of our work done. So we literally just had to wait for that thing to come out, kind of, you know, go through and make sure there wasn't any testing we were missed that was missed or that needed to be changed. The change from the final draft compliance supplement to the actual issued version. This year, the school district spent about 73.5 million in federal fundings. That's page 138 in the ACFR. The school district is considered a low risk oddity. That is something to be proud of. Not. Not every district can say that. But because of that, we get to. We only have to test. We have to test

017a lower threshold of the district's federal expenditures. This year we had one major program, and that was title one, part A, our opinion. We had a clean opinion on compliance and no findings related to the single audits. So no internal controls or compliance issues were noted. And then that last note on there just talks about how, starting with fiscal year 2026, the threshold for single audits is going to increase. It will not have a significant impact on the district just because the composition of the district's cefa, the schedule of expenditures of federal awards does not typically change a lot from year to year. That's not been the case a lot for the last couple of years with all of the COVID Money that's been moving through the system. But you know, in, in returning to

018a more normal environment with federal expenditures. Those same major programs, special education, Title one, the child nutrition cluster and then some of the one off larger grants will be the ones that we have to look at. Even though the threshold's going up to a million dollars, we don't expect a big significant change in the single audit procedures that we have to do when we conduct the district's annual audit. This slide I include because I do think that the district should be very proud of the fact that it does submit an ActFIR, that it does prepare an ActFIR. An ActFIR is not required. You are only required to prepare annual audited financial statement which the district goes above and beyond in preparing with a letter of transmittal, the MDNA and the statistical section that ACTFA is

019submitted to both asbo, the association of School Business Officials as well as to the gfoa and the district gets an annual reporting certificate for both of those. So just something to be proud of. Not every district in the state does this goes to this level of transparency. You know, it's an impressive document and I know it's appreciated especially when we start looking at, you know, the fact that the bond markets really appreciate governments that do prepare an actfr. It does matter and this document is important and your finance team should be proud of the fact that they go ahead and they report above and beyond what is kind of the requirement. I've got just a couple of quick slides on some financial trends for you all to look at. And you know, over the last

020couple of years I think these trends have gotten even more important. We've unfortunately seen, especially starting this year, we have a fairly large territory. We work with school districts across the southeast from as far west as Mississippi and all the way up into different parts of Tennessee. School districts that were not paying attention over the last couple of years that allowed stimulus funding to one time revenues to potentially fund ongoing costs and programs are finding themselves in not a good situation and sometimes some really, really bad financial situations. And so you know, this slide and the next one that I have kind of looks at the fact that the district's fund balance has remained relatively consistent as a percentage of expenditures. That second bullet on this slide, unassigned fund balances, is that fund balance that

021is available for spending at the district's discretion about 77 days, 20%, which is kind of right in line with what GFOA would recommend for best practices and what you can see on the next slide is this revenue trend. And you see that lighter blue bar, if you will. The federal revenues have changed significantly over the last five years, kind of in 2025, going back to about what they were in 2021. But over the last five years, federal revenues have increased significantly. And I think when you combine this graph along with the one on the previous slide about the general fund trends, fund balance as a percentage of expenditures remaining relatively consistent, it's just an evidence of good prudent financial management in the district finances. The last couple of slides I have here, just by ways

022of information, I could stand up here and talk for a while about these new GASB pronouncements, but. But I know that's not what y' all want me to do. And so I'll just simply say that we know these. These are pronouncements that are out there. We will work with the district's management to make sure that they get implemented and incorporated into the financial report as needed. And then this last slide is just a reminder that we do provide free quarterly continuing education for our clients. If any of you all are interested in being on our distribution list, you can get your information to John or Tracy and I'll make sure that you get on board list with that. I'm happy to take any questions from the board. Any questions? Thank you, Mr. Chair. On the

023slide that shows the general fund and you talk about the fund balance of 28%, can you get a little deeper into the explanation? Because I have a problem understanding it because I don't see a legend. So can you just kind of break it down a little? Sure. So that top line is general fund expenditures. That starts with 435.6 million in 21 and goes up to 628.4 million in 25. That is general fund expenditures. And so obviously we've seen over the last five years, general fund expenditures have grown significantly. A variety of factors that go into that, but general fund expenditure expenditures have grown significantly in the last five years. And then in 2021, fund balance, 143.1 million up to 178.5 million at the end of 2025. So we're comparing fund balance, which is the. Which

024is what's left at the end of the year. It's not just cash. It's what assets does our general fund have, what liabilities does our general fund have, and then kind of what's left over. And that fund fund balance number is what. You know, a lot of times that's what folks that are looking at governmental financial statements, credit analysts, bond folks, investors. They're looking at it to say, you know, governments, in the simplest terms, you know, governments, they're not. They don't operate. It's not the same all throughout the year. You know, revenues come in at one very big chunk. You know, property tax revenues come in in one specific time of the year. But expenditures are pretty consistent month to month. We've got costs that, you know, we have to operate. And so that fund balance,

025a lot of times they look at that as this is what's available to kind of buffer against, you know, revenue, timing differences. We have a school district we're working with in one of our other states right now. There was a significant delay in issuing their property tax bills. There was a huge delay for whatever reason, and they did not have the fund balance to absorb that shock. And we're at the point where they. They needed help from the state because they were in a bad situation. So that fund balance is really just kind of almost, if you will, a cushion in order to protect against timing differences with revenues or what have you. And gfoa, you know, there's different arguments out there about what's the right amount of fund balance is a really hard question

026to answer. But best practices typically say, you know, we should have two to three months, you know, of our. Of our fund, of our annual expenditures in fund balance to help, you know, help us with potential timing differences and it affects our bond rating. Yes, ma'. Am. Thank you. Any more questions? Tim, can you just repeat for everyone? What. What was our final score again? What. What was the unmodified opinion? Unmodified opinion. And. Or just help me just a little bit. What. What does that mean from a non accountant? So as I explained this, I've got a sixth grader and a fifth grader, and they have absolutely no idea what I do. But trying to explain this to them, I said, look, my clients, they prepare reports and I grade them. That's the best way

027I can explain it to them. And so what an unmodified or a clean opinion means is that when you look at those financial statements for the district, that the numbers that are in there are considered to present fairly all material respects, the district's financial position and the results of its operations for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. Fantastic. And John Gardner, can you just stand up, please? Thank you, John, and your staff. Tracy. Sorry. Tracy. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate y', all, man. Thank you so much. Next Mr. Lee James monitoring report R3 science. Chair Cox, Vice Chair Wellands board members and Mr. Jones Good evening and thank you for another opportunity to come before you to talk about our students results tonight in the area of science. Included in your

028agenda packet for this meeting was a full copy of the R3 science monitoring report. I have selected a few charts and graphs to share with you tonight to go over some of those results and we will start with SC Ready. The SC Ready Assessment in Science is given at the end of the school year to students in grades four and six only. This chart contains the percent of students who scored Meets or Exceeds. Again, there are four different categories that students can score on the SC Ready Assessment. IGBE does not meet, approaches, Meets and Exceeds and this chart combines the two categories of Meets and Exceeds and demonstrates the level of proficiency that our students demonstrated last year in science. The chart indicates an increase in both fourth and sixth grade and an overall increase

029of about 3% in the percent of students who are demonstrating proficiency in science in grades four and six. Next, we look at another summative assessment, the Biology one End of Course Exam. This exam is given to students at the end of their Biology course. On this assessment, students can earn a score between 0 and 100. That numeric score counts as their final exam and 20% of their overall grade. These grades are commonly converted into letter grades A through F according to our universal Grading Policy and what we have displayed here for you are the percent of students who scored C or higher on the left chart and the percent of students who passed earning a score of D or higher in the right chart. Excuse me, 54% of students earned a C or underscore of

030C or better last year and 70% of students pass the Biology EOC exam. Both of these measures are down about 2% from the previous year, even though these rates are higher than the measures from two years previous. This year we are focused on improving these scores through the use of science kits where students are able to have direct hands on experiences as they process these standards and of course through our Rise of Reading initiative where students will focus on the difficult vocabulary that is learned in biology and of course reinforcing and re just strengthening their understanding of the standards through the reciprocal skill of writing. We are confident that through these measures and others that these scores will increase next school year. The last three slides that I have for you tonight are all related

031to student performance on Advanced Placement assessments in the area of science. As we've discussed before, four Advanced Placement gives students the opportunity to Learn in this case, about science. In a very rigorous environment, students have the opportunity to earn college credit. Most universities accept a score of 3 or higher on the Advanced Placement exam. Therefore, the graphs that I've shown for you Tonight contain the percent of students who scored 3 or higher as well as the number of students who took each exam. First we'll look at the Advanced Placement Biology examination. Last year we saw a 40% increase in the number of students who were taking the AP biology assessment. The percent of students scoring 3 or higher fell by 1% even with the increase of about 54 students. Oregon County School students scored 15%

032above the national rate of 3 or higher. And you'll see on these last three slides that that red line there indicates the national passing rate or the national rate of 3 or higher. Next, we look at the Advanced Placement Environmental Science exam. We did see a decrease in the number of students who took this assessment last year from 83 to 63. With that decrease, we also saw an increase in the percent of students that earned a C or higher. Last year, Horry county school students earned 0.5% of them earned a score of 3 or higher on this very difficult assessment. Again far outpacing the national average of 69.2%. And our last assessment that we will look at is the Advanced Placement Chemistry exam. Last year we saw a decrease in the number of students who

033took the Chemistry exam. I would like to point out that we have a couple of schools that offer this assessment every other year due to course requests and the availability of instructors. Last year the Scholars Academy did not offer this exam. They will offer it this year. So we did see a decrease in the in the number of students who took this exam. We also saw a dip in the percent of students who earned a score of 3 or higher of about 4%. Still, our students outperformed the national average of 75.6% by a good margin. And that concludes my presentation of R3 science monitoring report. At this time, I'll take any questions you may have. I have a question, Ms. Dawson. Mr. Superintendent. Could we go back to the AP biology exam? Right there. I

034realize this is AP and our AP students are very strong. It can start me that in 2223 that was 89.3% that scored 3 or higher. And in 2425 it was 83.3%. That 6% decline even though these are AP students, which would be some of our highest performing students. Is that a canary in the coal mine? In terms of of what is happening throughout our Programs. And what are we, more importantly, what will we be seeing a report to tell us how we are addressing that concern. Great question, Ms. Dawson. Let me. Let me just do a little bit of a parallax. Parallax. Science word. We're going to change our perspective just slightly. Okay. And by changing our perspective just slightly, I want to highlight two different things. The first is the access to AP biology

035going from 150 to 180 students. Board. We need about 250 kids taking AP biology. We do. I'm changing your question just a little bit. Yes. Right. And why do I say that? When we look at the skills that AP Biology allows our students have access to. Plus they've already taken biology. Right. And so this would be a course that I would see us really double downing for participation. Increase. The sad reality or just the reality is the more kids you have take a test, the more you're going to get closer to the national average. The national average is there for a reason. Right. I would argue that we have almost been gatekeepers in a way to keep our percent passing higher than the national average versus allowing more and more kids go in and have

036that struggle, the rigorous struggle that is part of a college class. And the reason, I just want to frame it that way because if you look at all of these AP slides with increasing participation and increasing access while we're out, when you're over the national average, it's binary. It's yes or no. We are above the national average. Right. So let's get more kids in there seeing what they can do. And I will guarantee you that they can handle it. I will guarantee you that they will be able to do things with the courses that we offer. And I'll guarantee because we have a great system and instruction and teachers that will maintain our. Above the binary. Above the national average. Thank you, Ms. Edmonds. Thank you so much. What a great point. You raise, Mr.

037Superintendent. Thank you. Can you please let us know, is it who decides who gets to teach or what? High schools have Advanced placement. How does that work? So, Mr. James, I need a little bit of your help, but here's. As a former high school principal, you need a certain number of kids to register for a class for it to make. Okay. Right. I heard Mr. James say that it sounds like we might have a rotating schedule for some of these classes based on instructors. Is that what I heard you say? Instructors, course requests and then getting them into student schedules. Okay, so here's the other thing that we've got to hold. Hold right here. Is that kids have options now. They can do the PACE classes, they can do dual enrollment. Our kids at Socastee

038and Aner, they can do ib. Right. This doesn't have the IB kids in it they have, which is good. We don't want AP to be a monopoly for kids who are just taking rigorous classes. That doesn't serve anybody any good. We have options. And Ms. Edmonds, it becomes tricky in some of our smaller schools. But I will tell you today we talked about a couple of options that would allow possibly, if it's taught at one school, maybe to utilize virtual learning or some other things that we have a little more smartly, a bit more flexibly to get those classes into other schools. I think you also bring up a great point. We're in a different environment today than we were five or 10 years ago. And to be competitive, if you will, in the educational

039marketplace, we do need to offer more variety and opportunities. I'm sure many board members here have parents who contact them that want rigorous instruction, that want the kids to be challenged, that want them to have those opportunities to rise up, if you will, and to at least be able to see how far can I go. So when do you think, as you guys are talking, when do you think that some of these innovative collaborative ideas will be coming forth for engagement with public and other schools? First of all, the challenge is heard from the board to do that. The challenge is also heard from the community as they take their children to other academic settlements settings. We understand that there's urgency here. Board members, give me 30 to 45 days. I have a group, a

040committee who's working on academic programming. This is one of the biggest pieces that we've heard back from the public is flexibility. Right. And I want more kids. Here's what I believe. More kids can be in rigorous classes even earlier than you think they might be. There's many, many districts in this nation that have AP biology at 9th grade. Cool. So let's think about that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Edwards. Mr. Chairman, would with those thoughts that you just conveyed in mind, are we saying that we might be proponents of a virtual class from one school to another? Yes. Okay. Starting as fast as we can, think about it and get it done. We've got the technology. Okay. And we'll. Questions, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. You, Mr. Superintendent, Mr. Jones, you may have addressed

041my question in response to an earlier question, but Mr. James made a statement when we were talking about the Biology one, the end of course examination program, he made the statement that I'M confident that the scores will increase because we're doing all these extra things. My question, not to be pointed, not to be adversarial, but what happens if they do not go up? Are we willing to take a, take a hard look and say we've thrown or we placed all these additional resources in an effort to increase and we've added more to the plates of the instructors in the classroom and it's maybe not as effective as we had hoped. If we don't see the results, are we willing to take a look and say, hey, this may not be giving us what we wanted?

042I guess that's my question. Great, great question, Mr. James. And really at the heart of your question is transparency and courage. When we look at the root cause of whether we're succeeding or not meeting the mark, it takes transparency and courage, transparency to come to this board telling you what works, courage to say when it's not, because this board, I know wants to help. You can't help unless we come to you and say we need help. Right. And so when Mr. James and I talked about the things that we're doing around vocabulary, Biology is basically another language, right? It's 400 plus new vocabulary terms. It's basically a new language. It's, it's not math. Biology is not math. And so when we think about the skills that we're trying to really double down on in biology,

043it comes back to vocabulary acquisition. That's right in the sweet spot of what we're doing with rise with reading. That's the, that's the key lever. When we come back to you next year and say, is it working or is it not? We'll see. Ms. Edmonds, thank you, Neil. Thank you, Ms. Mr. James, for your question and looking forward, and I would venture to say our challenge, we have stepped into the arena of rise with reading by realizing that literacy is where it starts. You can't learn 400 new vocabulary words if you can't read, if you can't decode words. So the commitment beginning at that early, early level, the pylon for literacy, is going to almost guarantee you those numbers will go up as these kids go through Horry county schools knowing how to read by

044fourth grade, at grade level, at grade level, and then flushes out, I can do more, I can do more. I want to be challenged. So I think our long term commitment, if you will, is definitely always going to have to be to early childhood literacy. And you will definitely see that the more confident kids become in the knowledge and that they can control the area of interest and they want to learn more and they want to rise up and they want to achieve more. It begins with knowing how to read. So thank you. Thank you, Ms. Edmonds. Ms. Dawson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one other comment I would like to make and ask the superintendent to think about. That is when we set such high standards for our students and the academic performance

045across the district, oftentimes what that results in is what the teachers to be pressure on them in the classroom to perform more, which is obviously we have high expectations and as you said, this board is more than willing to provide available resources. But I think it's also a matter of process examination. When we increase expectations on teachers in one area, what are we doing to level set the expectations we have for them in other areas? We can't just keep adding and adding and adding things to the teacher's plate unless we seriously consider is the this realistic considering all of the other responsibilities they have. Great points, board members. I would encourage us all to talk to a teacher in this day and age because they are saying some of the same things Ms. Dawson just

046said, right? They're feeling pressure, they're feeling overwhelmed. It is not missed by me that we've got to figure out way to take something off. One of my first questions almost a year ago now is what can we stop? What can we stop? And what courage do we need to have to tell people we're stopping something? And my heart goes out to teachers who feel that strain and pressure because here's the reality of it. We own that in partnership with their parents, right? We own. We own a student success in partnership with the parents in the community. And so how do we, how do we redistribute that weight equally amongst all those groups so that we can all together carry our own portion of that. So thanks, Mr. Mr. Jones, I'd like to follow up on

047Mrs. Edmond's comments. And I realize we're talking science tonight, but every one of my elementary school principals is concerned again about third grade retention. While it's a lot better than it was last year, they are going to need additional funding. Get them through this year. And I'm sure y' all are working that. But if nothing else, a shout out to those principals tonight to tell them that helps on the way. I think they'd be greatly appreciative of that. I think all of us board members have told them that Mrs. James is going to take care of that. But there the clock's running. They're starting to get a little concerned. So, Mr. Barnard, let me just tell you where we are in this process. We just finished up winter diagnostic tests. So you have two types

048of testing so far this year. You have fall, August, September, winter, winter, December, January. Then we have the grades now elementary grades. You and I both know it's. They're not as critical. Right. But we're analyzing the winter diagnostic test to see what our students are saying they need. And you're right, board members, let me just tell you publicly, we're not where we need to be. We're not where it wasn't as bad as last year, but realized we had to do a little bit of a push last year. And so Mr. James and I both looked at that data today and we'll be coming back to the board in early February based on the data. Right. This isn't a non data decision. It is where our kids are. And we're going to come back and ask

049for help to get them where they need to be. Any more questions? Hearing none. I thank you, Mr. James. You may be seated. I'd ask Mr. Prince to come up, please. Quarterly facilities report. All right. Good evening, Chairman Cox, Vice Chairman Wellens, board members. Mr. Jones, I appreciate the opportunity to stand before you tonight and update you on our quarter four OE13 reports. There are a total of 19 reports in the packet of information that I shared with board members. I wanted to begin by highlighting our three projects from our project managers that are labeled final reports. These projects are Blackwater Middle School, Outside Air Unit Replacement, Pee Dee elementary School, Fire Alarm replacement and the 2025 modular classroom installations. As we have mentioned before, we moved and set up more modular units this past

050summer than any other summer on record. Our total modular effort, both new and existing modulars, included 72 classrooms and eight restrooms. These projects have been substantially completed and I'm happy to report to you tonight that all three finished on time and within budget. The remaining 16 reports focus on other ongoing projects. We're pleased with the overall success of these projects at this point and will continue to provide the board UPD updates as necessary. We continue to highlight the ongoing capital projects with our building on the penny banners that we have placed throughout the county. And we appreciate your continued support and I'll be happy to answer any questions at this time. Any questions? Hearing none. Thank you. Mr. Prince. Yes, sir. Mr. Burch, if you would purchase a property. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of

051the board, Mr. Jones, as you know, Horry county schools has been proactively seeking property throughout the district for future educational facilities and or operations facilities in Horry County. We initially identified a number of properties that had some potential in various areas of the county and have since negotiated a contract for purchase of a 36.78 acre site on Horseshoe Road in Little River. We have completed all due diligence on the tract and there are no significant items of note. We would like the board to consider authorizing the purchase of 36.78 acres on horseshoe Road in Little river in the amount of $5,958,000. 360 utilizing funds from the interest reserve fund. And I'll be happy to answer any questions about that. Any questions? Hearing none. I thank you, Mr. Burch. You may be seated. Thank you. Now,

052Mr. Washburn, School Improvement Designations and Chairman Cox, as Mr. Washburn prepares his update, I want to briefly address the 2025 school improvement designations. Let me start by saying publicly that Norry county schools, we believe all students can learn at high levels. And tonight's discussion about state and federal designations are not labels of failure. They are indicators of where specific groups of students need us to act with greater urgency and precision. In most cases, this is about subgroup performance, particularly students with disabilities, multi language lingual learners and African American students. These are all our children and their success is shared by all of us. Our response is going to be clear and focused. It's going to rely on rise with reading as our major strategy. Strong literacy instruction, which consists of early, consistent and aligned vocabulary

053and writing, is the most powerful lever we have to improve outcomes across every school and every grade level and every subgroup. I've asked principals and district leaders to re examine their local school improvement plans with urgency, ensure strong alignment to literacy, and monitor progress closely. This is not about compliance. This is a compliance report, but it's not about compliance. This is about kids. And I want to thank the board for its continued support and partnership. Mr. Washman, thank you. Good evening. Chairman Cox, Vice Chair Willans, board members and Mr. Jones. Tonight I am providing you an overview of our 2025 school improvement designations as determined by the Department of Education, South Carolina Department of Education. These designations are required under federal and state accountability law and are based on student performance data. I'll focus on

054what these designations mean, what they do not mean, and how accountability and funding are handled. There are three federal support categories under essa csi, or Comprehensive Support and Improvement applies to schools in the bottom 5% statewide or any high school with a graduation rate below 70%. ATSI, or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement applies when a specific student subgroup performs at or below the fifth percentile statewide. TSICUs, or Targeted Support and Improvement for Consistently Underperforming Subgroups is an annual designation for subgroups performing at or below the 10th percentile for three consecutive years. Only CSI and ATSI designations come with additional federal and state funding. These HCS elementary schools received ATSI designations based on the performance of specific student subgroups, primarily students with disabilities, and one school also identified for African American students. This designation does not

055reflect overall school quality it reflects the performance of a specific group of students and triggers targeted supports. Excuse me. At the middle school level, ATSI designations again primarily involve students with disabilities subgroup with one school identified for African American students and multilingual learners. ATSI schools receive additional funds and are required to submit improvement plans focused specifically on the identified student subgroups. These schools are entering a second ATSI cycle, meaning the same subgroup was identified again after an initial three year identification. Second cycle identification increases the monitoring and the urgency, but is still focused on developing and implementing sustainable improvements. I'd like to clarify that St. James Intermediate School is listed here as Middle for district monitoring purposes due to its odd grade span. The performance is actually calculated at the state level using the elementary

056school Scale. Schools exit ATSI status by meeting two criteria. First, the subgroup performance must rise above the performance of the students in the highest performing Title 1 CSI school, the school at the fifth percentile. Second, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding grade level standards in ELA or math must increase compared to the year of identification a second cycle school as the just the previous slide before. Therefore, second cycle schools may exit early if these conditions are met. TSI CUS is an annual designation for student subgroups that have performed at or below the 10th percentile for three consecutive years. Unlike ATSI or CSI, no additional funding is provided for TSI C US student schools, but schools are expected to address subgroup performance through existing resources. To exit TSICUS status, the identified subgroup must perform above

057the 10th percentile relative to all students in the school during the most recent identification year, Separate from the federal designations that we've just gone over. South Carolina identifies schools under state accountability law as well. Schools may be identified as underperforming or chronically underperforming based on overall report card ratings. The underperforming district designation only occurs if 65% of all schools within the district or more are identified over multiple years. For 2025, Loris Middle School has been identified as an underperforming school under state criteria. To exit this status, the school must avoid a below average or unsatisfactory rating on the 2026 report card. If not, the designation escalates to chronically underperforming, which increases state involvement. This is why this improve this focused improvement is critical this year. In summary, to echo the words of Mr. Jones, these

058designations are tools for focus, funding and accountability, not labels of failure. Our priority is improving student outcomes, exiting these designations as quickly as possible and preventing escalation. We will continue to monitor progress closely and keep the board informed. And if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer them at this time. Any questions? Hearing none. Thank you, sir. Oh, you do? Okay. Ms. Hodges, what particular programs are being used with the funds that are provided. To improve these categories for the schools? So My first question, Ms. Hodges, and this is one I don't know the answer to. So this is bad leadership. Have we received any funds? Not yet. These, these schools will submit their plans to our Department of Federal programs and they will then be submitted through to the state department for

059final approval based on the plan. And once that is done, and to be quite honest with you, with the funding calculations, we don't even know how much is going to be allocated per school. But that has not actually taken place yet. They're in the process of getting that information entered now and as soon as we have that, it gets turned around pretty quickly. So Ms. Hodges, the reason I bring that up is because I'll be able to come back to the board when we have when we know how much money number one is actually going to be designated number two. I can assure the board this that it will be research based programs that we will be utilizing. Right. This will not be a shot in the dark. This is urgent work. And my second

060question was about the timeline. So if we have not even received the funding yet and then we've got to just upon the programs and then benchmarks to get the students where they need to be in measuring their performance. I guess we're going to have to come together with some district wide strategies and some leadership strategies to address that meeting quickly. Well, just one second. So I love the outlook of a district strategy and here's why that's too many schools. Let me just say what you're thinking. You're being South Carolina nice on me. Right? That's too many schools. And when you have that many schools and it's not just three or four, we have a systemic issue that we need to address. Right. And so these are major conversations. It goes back to some of the

061work around local looking at our special needs programming and we're starting to have those conversations in depth. But I will tell you this. It's hard to hit a target when they don't tell you what the target is. Let me repeat my frustration. And it's not geared at any one state or anything. This is just the way this works. It's hard to hit a target when they haven't told us what percentage needs to score at the median score or whatever the target is. They come back and they apply that to us afterwards. It's not an excuse. We need to do better. I had multiple schools thought they did better, but because it's based on a percent, they didn't hit what they thought they were going to need to come off the list. There's no other industry

062that I can think of that says, by the way, I can't tell you what good looks, but you better be good. Right? It's not. I'm not trying to. I will own this. We will do better. These are kids, you know, I know that, you know, that's. We will do better. And I love what you said because I, I mean, in our district, we do have, we have learning specialists, we have coaches, we have coordinators, we have integration specialists. We have lots of resources. So time is very important in addressing these items so that we do not have schools on this list because there are far more school districts out there in rural areas that do not have 20 plus learning specialists to assist them on a daily basis. So, yeah, the ox is definitely in

063the ditch and everybody needs to get out and just improve. Mr. Washburn, do we know how many other districts, what their schools are? Unfortunately, no, sir, I do not have that data. That was. We were only providing provided data for our district. I don't have a statewide. I don't have a statewide file. Yeah, I looked at a few things as I was looking at other schools and their performance in relation to the poverty level. So it's quite interesting and it's across the board. But I know in Horry county we have so many resources that other school districts do not have because of our tax basis. And we do not, as Mr. Jones said, do not believe that poverty is an excuse. And those kids in those schools and those areas deserve, and their parents deserve

064better because it will flow down into the community and we. They deserve better. Anything else? I have one, sir. Well, Ms. Dawson, and then you. Oh, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have pretty particular concerns about our SPED programming. The number of schools who are showing indicators about problems with our disabled students is numerous. And I have Very serious concerns about that area in our district. And I very much support you in your approach to this. I think you are looking at at this from the right perspective. But I would like to ask you to consider one other aspect of it which I think you, if not already, are soon will. And that is whether or not organizational realignment and district leadership development is necessary to correct some of these issues. Because we do

065need to build long term capacity to position us for improvement in the future. My particular concern is that we need to be cognizant of the fact that we have to have a pipeline of personnel ready to move forward in all of our positions throughout the district that encompasses identification of prospective candidates who can succeed in these positions, appropriate professional development and mentoring so that they can move into positions. Because what I don't want to see is that when individuals are given every possible opportunity, provided all the resources required to do their jobs and all the supports required to do their jobs to help our students succeed and still do not succeed, that we not that we not be afraid to take decisive action. And what a component of that is to make sure we have

066an adequately trained pipeline of personnel in the wings. So that's my comment and I'm sure you're looking at the organizational diversity development, staff development and professional development for in that regard. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Edmonds. Thank you, sir. John, when will the next assessment be done? The next identification? The next is 2028. Then that's the end of the three year cycle. It's always a three year cycle. Okay, so I understood you to say that. But they. So they literally are for three years are not going to assess the situation. Do they annually come in and the identification of having the support status listed is a three year. Is a three year proposition. Right. Our second cycle schools, the ones that were in the second cycle list, they could literally exit at the end of

067this year if they show, if they meet the criteria. The designation lasts for three years. The quote funding lasts for three years. The way the ESSA set it up was you have to have a specific period of time for the schools to demonstrate the improvement. South Carolina decided on a three year cycle. So the identification. Yes, ma'. Am. Before school year ends, there will be another assessment. Well, it's always based on the report card. It's based on SC ready and EOC scores. Yes, ma'. Am. It's always based on the annual state assessments. Okay, so we, we have to get busy like quickly to have even an opportunity to raise up 5% on one. Right. The fifth and then the 10th percent on the others. And so the funding is calculated and assigned at what point

068in time I would have to defer to federal programs on that. It. Once the. Once the information is sent to the State Department and has been approved by the State Department, then they'll. The funds will be sent back through the superintendent. So in years past we've gotten it when. I. I really don't know. Ms. Edmonds. I'm sorry. Does anybody know? Ms. Wilson, do you know? It has varied. This is only the third, third time that we're in a cycle. The first year it was very delayed and it was a significant amount more money than it was in the last cycle. In the last cycle there was not much money for school because it was a district distribution. And we did divide that equally alone based on a per equal allocation to the schools that graduated.

069We hope to receive that money soon. We actually just signed up for some sessions. The State Department sent out some professional learning opportunities. A is going to help with you though that information was sent out. We do hope to receive those funds sooner rather than later. In the first year, we were well into next school year, midway through the next month. So the bottom line is for us to address this problem, we got to take the bull by the horns, right ourselves and we have to start addressing it ourselves and put some funding in place or whatever is needed to be able to start working on it and not wait, as you said, significantly delayed, meaning the beginning of the next school year. We don't have or after, you know, so we don't have six,

070seven months to sit around and wait for state funding to show up. But yet we, we have this concern. And to your point, Mr. Jones, they're children. They're children and there are children. And it has to be addressed. Right. And we have already started meeting with schools that are either in second cycle or were newly identified at all levels. In addition to, we will begin meeting with the schools that were identified as tsi CUS for those. So we've already started that work within existing framework, existing funding, existing structures to dig into, especially our schools that are in second cycle because that's a little bit more strategic and targeted in terms of how we address getting those or so out because they can exit at the end of this year, which that is what we, we

071want to do. We were able to exit two schools that were previously identified in this most recent administration of SC Ready Conway elementary School was able to exit as well as Myrtle Beach Elementary School. One of the things that we have different this year that I think is really going to play an important role is our data dashboard, because you have to be able. I call it like a dipstick. You got to be able to see what's going on and where you are in real time. The data dashboards that we have rolled out this year has slicers by all the different subgroups that we've mentioned tonight. And so you have to be able to see where they're going so that you can apply the right treatments to the kids who might need either more time

072or more intensity to their learning environment. So as we've noted, all of us, this has grown tremendously. This isn't a common occurrence over the past 15 or 20 years in Horry county schools. Correct. To this magnitude. Is that a fair statement? As many schools that, that are experiencing. We haven't had designations. They haven't. I'm sorry, we haven't had designations under this accountability model. So it's something. You know what, it's growing, right? It is growing. And it, it is, it is absolutely growing as well as statewide. Hence the reason we're seeing a reduction in that funding right. From cycle to cycle. Okay. And so as we know just from the data, it's growing and it's not going to quit growing because if we have that many schools that are experiencing this much and they're in second

073cycle, a lot of them, it's not just going to stop. And so we have to do a pile on and address it and try to help in the best ways that we can. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Hodges. Mr. Jones, I. I did some looking today and, and just for our public, I, I would like everyone to know that we have funded programs, we have gone above and beyond. I feel like, Mr. Jones, to help people that, that need it. And although the money is important and getting that, I found it, and I'm sure the board and the public would find it very interesting that a school within an hour of here in a rural district with 96% poverty, where their average teacher salary is 49,000 versus hours being 60, 69,000. Their average administrators paid

07488 versus ours being paid 115,000, and they're at 96%. Hemingway compared in the school in Williamsburg county, compared with some of our schools here with 62%, they are not below average. So I think there's a lot that we can do before we get this money. It's about good teachers and it's about good leadership. And we have thrown money, we have given money for every type of program that we thought could help these kids. And we are far into this ball game right now. So it's up to the teachers and the leadership, and that's what's going to make the difference. Because we may not get the money until April. But statistically here we've got teachers making 20,000 below lower an hour away. And they're not below average at that school with 96% poverty. So I know

075that kids in poverty, that's not an excuse, and that's not an excuse for those parents. And we believe that they can learn, but with the right strategies and with the right leadership. So even if we don't get the money until later, there are still things that we can do. Thank you, Ms. Hodges. Mr. James. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. You know, I sense the frustration that we have. I sense everyone's commitment to try to. Let's figure out a way to move this forward. You know, we are approaching our budget cycle where we really start focusing on allocating not only personnel, but resources and resources associated with programs. And I would like to make a suggestion for the staff as well as for the board members to consider when we prepare the budgets for those areas, those

076schools that we know there is a challenge. Let's go ahead and provide whatever allocation, if it's people, if it's programs, if it means taking something away, let's do that during the budget cycle. You know, I heard Mr. Barnard talk about third grade retention and I heard Mr. Jones, Mr. James talk about we're going to come back with a. A funding suggestion. I don't like that. I would rather us be proactive, put it in up front instead of coming in in the fourth quarter and trying to, you know, stock or equip our bench to make. Make us look good. I feel like we need to do it on the front, front end. So as we approach our budget cycle, which begins now, we need to really, I think, look hard at how to. Ms. Dawson. Strategically

077align the resources and the programs to make sure that we maximize our efforts to address some of these shortcomings. Okay, thank you, panel. Any more questions? Hearing none. Thank you. Thank you. Next we go to Ms. Superintendent's report. Mr. Jones. Thank you. Chairman Cox, Vice Chair Wellands and board members and community. Good evening and welcome to our first board meeting. 2026. As we begin a new calendar year, I want to share my reflection and my word for 2026 and its focus. Focus means being clear about what matters most. Protecting the work that drives outcomes for students and aligning our time, our energy, our budgets and resources around that purpose. And for us, that purpose remains unwavering in its student success, especially as it relates to literacy. It's foundational for everything we do in Horry county

078schools. And before we move into night's discussion, business items, I want to pause and celebrate some students. Sure, if you saw this. But over the holiday break, more than 7,000 Horry county students logged their reading pages and chose to stay engaged and curious and committed even while school was not in session. Even more impressive was that 450 of these students completed a reading challenge and earned a badge. I did not anticipate that many students because I think I probably promised them that they would be in a drawing to win some prizes. So I had to make an emergency call to one of our partners, htc, who's come in to save the day for us. And that kind of participation doesn't happen on accident. Certainly the partnership as well, it reflects strong encouragement from our families

079and our community and our educators. So this is momentum. We've had some hard discussions today, which is great. It's unfortunate to have them, but let's have them. Let's also, let's, let's pat ourselves on the back and pat these kids on the back for the momentum that we have related to our literacy efforts. So now, as part of our commitment to focus. Well, my commitment to focus, y' all didn't sign on to that. I want to turn our attention to Loris Middle School. And Tonight I've asked Ms. Kelly Generette and principal of Loris Middle and Ms. Candice Lane, executive director of Middle schools, to provide a brief overview. But I want to be clear why they're here today because I heard that this is a little outside of what we might do in past years. And

080so I want to tell you the why, why they're here tonight to share this. And that's because the success of Loris Middle School is not owned by the principal. It's not not just owned by the executive director and the, and the teachers and the students. It's owned collectively by the district staff in the community that you see around you. This is going to happen. Loris Middle School is going to get off this list. Right? And there is no ifs and or buts about it. And tonight we're going to give a little bit of a high level view about what's going on at Loris Middle School so that the community can, number one, understand our commitment to transparency. Number two, they can see our courage to stand up for kids. Number three, we can hold ourselves

081accountable in the Months and weeks ahead for the plans that we make. With that, I give it over to you all. Chairman Cox, Vice chair, members of the board, Superintendent Jones, I am pleased to be able to speak to you all tonight about Lewis Middle School. So our motto this year. Well, let me back up. When I took this position or interviewed for this position as principal of Loris Middle School, there were three things that I said I would focus on. That's discipline, expectation, and community. And one of the things that I saw and really wanted to focus on this year was expectation for our students. Because like you said earlier, poverty doesn't determine whether or not a student can achieve. And home life doesn't determine whether or not a student can achieve. This picture

082in the bottom right corner is a faculty meeting that I had this year. And in that faculty meeting I talked to teachers about what the three biggest effect sizes to student achievement. And all three of those boil down to belief. One of them was, the first one is collective teacher efficacy. And that is belief that the shared belief among educators that they can affect student achievement and help them achieve regardless of what their circumstances are outside of school. The second one is self reported grades by students. And that's not saying a student grades themselves on what it is. This is what the students believe that they can achieve and then the steps they take to meet that goal. And the last one is what teachers believe students are able to do. And again, this is

083all about expectation, all about belief. And we believe in the ability of our students at Lewis Middle School to do well, to achieve. We believe in the staff in our building, and we believe that the initiatives that we put in place this year will get our students to where they need to be. And we're already seeing the gains that we'd like to see. And we're going to keep pushing our students and our staff to make sure those gains continue to happen. So our goals this year, excuse me, is by the. By second semester, we will increase the percentage of underperforming students enrolled in the AVID elective class to at least 33%. Currently it is 23.7%. The second goal is for 55% of the students to meet their annual growth target in reading. And the third

084goal is for 55% of the students to meet their median annual growth target in math. And what that means is what students is that students will meet what they're expected to grow in math and reading for the year. So did I see. All right, so let me breathe for a second. All right, so the first thing that I'd like to talk about is a professional learning community model of implementation. And one of the things that we've done in the last we started last year is implementation of avid. And AVID stands for the advancement, advancement via individual determination. And a great part of the framework of AVID is to close the opportunity gap. So it looks at students who don't necessarily have the resources or the knowledge of what is available to them. And it puts

085things in place to show them what they are capable of achieving and what steps they need to take to get there. And so part of the ever framework is wicor and WICIR is writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading. And we focused on writing, organization and reading this year. And Reading again goes along with the initiative that we already have in our district. And we've used a lot of explicit vocabulary instruction. And then we also incorporated some college and career readiness activities and skill development. I'm a former student of Loris Middle School and Loras High School, and I will tell you that it's educators who planted seeds in me and who showed me that these are the things that you are capable of achieving. That made me want to do well in school, that made me

086try a little harder in math, try a little harder in reading. And so I pushed this not just in our AVID elective classes or in our AVID paws, but in all of our classroom with our teachers and with different things that we initiatives that we put in place at the school. We've also focused on the realignment of instruction and assessments to meet the rigor of the standard. Students will not grow if we're not teaching them at the rigor of the standard. And so in our structured collaborative plan planning, we're making sure that every lesson, every assessment meets what the students are actually supposed to do and what they are expected to be able to achieve at the end of the year assessment. And we are standing with Principal Genret at the district office in learning

087services to help provide that support. We've got some targeted coaching and instructional support because as we said tonight, that the teacher is the most important factor. And what the research has told us on coaching and support is that when teachers go to a professional development or Even just a PLC model, there's about a 10% transfer that they'll go back into their classroom and try that strategy or do that strategy, but with intentional coaching support. The research tells us that 80 to 90% of the time that when we go into classrooms and provide the coaching followed by that professional development, we see a lot of transfer in that. So an example that I can give you based on one of the strategies that we are supporting is that retention and retrieval strategy and metacognitive strategies. We

088have worked with a professional, professional out of Penn State who works with Special Education, Dr. Riccimini and HE I'm gonna go back one slide because that picture is there. So in that slide that is Ms. Sabato and she is trying a new strategy called work solution strategy. And Dr. Riccimini came in, she had time to practice it and he's there coaching her. Ms. Sabata was one of the highest performing teachers in the winter data because we're providing that intentional coaching support for what we need our teachers to know and be able to do and for our students to be able to grow and to meet the level of the Standard. We have 20 across our district. And at Loris Middle School, their special educators are doing letters training this year, which is another opportunity for

089us to learn what those foundational skills gaps are, how to teach those foundational skills gap at the middle school level so that we can provide the interventions that our students need. When we talk about interventions, sometimes it's overwhelming because cause there are a lot of kids. So the real push for us is to increase tier one instruction with that constant support we have. Our learning specialists are all in. We are all hands on deck to support Loris Middle School and working with specific teachers and with coaching. And then part of the report card, as you saw in the state designations, was a multilingual learners. We also piloted this year at Loris because of what the data told us, a research based program to support, it's called Learning Tree Solution to support our ML learners to

090prepare and what they need to have in order to exit the access testing. So we are here, we are standing locked, arm ready to do whatever it is that we need to do with the coaching and the support. Because as Ms. Hodges said, we have a lot of support and a lot of people willing and able to do the work. And I think you're going to see when we talk about some of the data points from fall to winter, that that work we are seeing, seeing some of the benefits of that work. Thank you. And I'd also like to point out that we have taken a proactive approach because in years past we know that we don't get the designation until usually second semester of the school year and the funding doesn't come until even

091later than that. And so we spent many months last school year and this summer working to plan to see how can we target these students and target these Areas even if we don't get a designation because we want to continue to see the growth that we know that they needed. So our first goal talked about AVID and increasing the number of underperforming students that are in the AVID elective class. And so if you look at this data, you'll see our SC rated baseline. Excuse me, that's the number of students who scored met or exceeds that are in the AVID elective class were 47, 7.4%. Based on our 2526 winter already projections, 56% of those students will be meets or exceeds in the spring of this year. In math, we saw a slight decrease with 25.8%

092scoring meets or exceeds in SC rating and 24% projected to score meets or exceeds in the spring of this year. But we also saw a 7% decrease and the number of students who score does not meet. And so this is why we're focusing on adding more of those underperforming students in that class. We're also already working with our math students and our math teachers with Marie Holden and Mr. Riccimini to shore up the areas, the weaknesses that we see in our math. With ELA, our second goal was for 55% of our students to meet their median annual growth target. So median annual growth is calculated together for math and ela. So you'll see that number the same on both of the next slides. And it was 40.2% for our students in 2425 SU ready. Based

093on the winter already diagnostic, 47% of my students have already met their median annual target and 86% are on track to meet by the end of this school year. For proficiency, the baseline for SC Ready was 40%. In the fall when they took it, it was 42%. And based on the winter already diagnostic, 51% of students are projected to be meets or exceeds this spring. So again, we're already seeing growth. We're not done yet. We're going to see even more growth than we see here. But we're moving in the right direction. For math, again, the median annual growth target is the same. It's calculated together, it's 40.2% for the winter already diagnostic, 40% of students have already met their median annual growth target and 73% are on track to meet it for the year. For

094proficiency, we had 22% of our students meet or exceed an SE ready. And we have 26% projected to be meet certain in the spring of this year. And again we see that our students aren't growing as Quickly in math. As they are reading. As they are reading. So we're already implementing some new strategies and having some more focused collaborative planning sessions, some more focused support from learning specialists to help shore up those deficits and help our students meet the goals. And that is the end of our presentation. Now we'll take any questions that you may have. Ms. Edmonds. I'm sorry, Mr. Edwards, good evening. You mentioned your participation in Avid. I've got a couple questions for that. Is that offered in homeroom or. I know it's an elective. So when is that offered? During the

095day. All right, so we have an AVID elective. And so there are two. Excuse me, you have two sections for each grade level. We also have an AVID pod because I wanted to make sure that we implemented it with fidelity. I didn't want to just push it out to the entire school and not be able to monitor the implementation effectively. So our co teach classes and our accelerated class for each grade level are in an AVID pod. So that's math, English, Science and Social studies. So the majority of those teachers have already been AVID trained. I think we're down to two out of the three grade levels who have not been AVID trained. And then the AVID elective students who. Some of those students are in AVID pod, but we also pull from the other

096pods so that more students can get exposed to AVID as well. So how many times a week is that? Like the AVID elective is every day. And then those students in AVID POD are receiving instruction from trained AVID teachers every day. So they get consistent encouragement from that. My other question is, relates to your overall three goals. Michelle, if you meet these goals that are stated here, is that going to remove this designation from Loris Middle School? I believe it will, because we're pushing our students in every level. This is all of our students. And if we bring all of them up, we're going to be bringing our subgroups up, but we are also targeting them as well. Thank you. Ms. Hodges. Hi. So I know you said you did a realignment of instruction and

097assessment to meet the rigor, because I know that the achievement, you know, you can't. You. You must be teaching to the standards, not the basics. So, and the teachers and the groups of teachers, the teachers, teams did that realignment of instruction and assessment. So that realignment happens every week in our collaborative planning. So when they meet with our instructional coach, we focus on a backwards design. And so we look at the assessment that the teachers are creating for the students to make sure that the assessment itself meets the Rigor of the standard. So the assessments are created by the teachers and not by a specialist or by another person. Is that correct? It depends. Some are created by teachers, some are pulled from our district resources, like Savage from the textbook. So it just depends

098on what they're assessing for that. So that's work that these teachers are having to do themselves. Right. Because the concern was what we were teaching. Well, they were teaching at the rigor of the standard, but what we were requiring the students to give us was not meeting the level of the standard. And so that lesson may be great, but then the assessment itself may not require the students to show that they actually obtained what they needed to from that lesson. And so we start with that assessment first and then we work with teachers to make sure that whatever they're teaching in that class meets the rigor of the standard, is actually doing what the standard requires of the student. And that as the students practice, they do their assignments in the classroom. That vet also

099meets the level of that standard. Okay. I thought that that all was created at the district and by specialists and that you had consistency across the board. So I did not realize that the teachers were actually creating their own plans and having to take their time to realign and get it to the level of rigor. So, Mr. Johnson Jones, my concern and something that we should look at because, you know, I do not want the data to label our schools, but to grow our schools and our district so that it can be what it should be. And what I know what it can be is that when I looked at the report card here and I looked at Laura's and the sections. 21, 22, student progress was below average. 22, 23, it was average. 23,

10024, student progress was below average and ML was unsatisfactory. 24, 25, ML and student progress were both unsatisfactory. So, you know, I guess what we would look at would be, you think, how long have we been assessing and looking at the teachers who are individually creating their own lesson plans, how having to come together as a group, and now we're going to get them to the level of rigor of the state standard? I thought that that was created by a district specialist, a district learning specialist, a district coach, or a coordinator. I did not realize that the teachers were doing all of that themselves. So that's. I'm sorry, can I make a clarification to that so the teachers don't. There is a district pacing guide, but our collaborative planning focuses on how that's going to

101be taught. So they don't have to create the pacing of what it is. They don't have to find all the resources. But we are focusing on how they're teaching that instruction. So they're not starting from scratch, but they are having to figure out, like, how they design it for the students that's going to best meet their needs. I just want to make sure. Modify it to the different learning modalities of the. Yeah, I just want to make sure I clarify that. Okay. So. Yes, I mean, and I think. And I. The idea of doing the AVID is great. So maybe in this case, since we have so little time, it might be worth looking at other schools across the district. Like Myrtle Beach Middle does a fabulous job with avid. And I think they were

102on the list, but they got off of the list. So some replicating and some coordinating. Is that in the works? Possibly. Well, first of all, I love your idea about creating some standardized lessons with the rigor that we. That we need the students to display. You know, those types of focused lessons delivered every once in a while allows teachers to breathe for a second while they go back and do the hard work of aligning where our students might need some tier two interventions. Right. And I will tell you that that's something Mr. James and I have talked about. So let us get back to the board to. To really discuss that further, because when you see. Let's go back to your systems question kind of like 30 minutes ago. Right. There has to be a

103systems answer to this because we have a systems problem. Right. And how can the system support not only Loris Middle, who's here in front of us today, but also the other schools as well. Well, we can create a standardized curriculum not to have a teacher per a day, per, you know, per page. That's not what I'm saying. But have different lessons that we all assign a certain rigor to that we know is essential for kids to get growth and achievement throughout whatever ELA or math. And so the system could do that. We have enough people to do that. Again, not every. If you're a teacher and you're hearing me say this, I'm not saying every day. What I'm saying is once or twice a week, have a focused lesson that is at the standard and

104that allows us to. To do our check in to see where we are and then come back out and let you be the professional that you are. And that may help with the CSI designations that own other schools such as Conway Middle, Whittemore Park, I mean, because they might. That might prevent Them from being at this point because we knew from 21 to 22 that there was an issue with the student progress. So I would just like for us to use that to help prevent so that we can all be better next year. Thank you, Ms. Edmonds. Thank you so much. Thank you both for coming up here. We appreciate that transparency, the honest words, the planning. We appreciate it. And we know in your hearts you're going to do your darndest to get this

105settled and get it moving in the right direction where you both want it to be. And everybody wants it to be Dr. M. Because to not be able to repeat his name. Is that okay? Is he being videotaped while he's teaching these lessons so that we can capture that or somebody can go back and review what he talked about or what he said so that it can also be extended to other teachers and staff that perhaps could benefit from that? That's a great question, Ms. Edmonds. And that is something that we would certainly entertain. Dr. Riccomini is coming back to us at the end of February. He's going to visit some different schools. So I'm sure that we could capture that and scale that across our schools. Dr. Riccimini has worked with Loris and again

106I just keep wanting to shout out because the teachers have embraced. He only taught three strategies. We didn't overwhelm the teachers with strategies. And then he was able to come in and coach those strategies which are evidence based strategies, particularly for students who have deficits in math. And so we will certainly capturing that at the end of February when he returns to us. Awesome. And also the coaching part to videotape that so we can have peer coaching and assistance and hey, I remember seeing this. Or when they're doing their collaborations and they can note that together. Is AVID subscription based? Yes. Okay. And it's per student, right? Well, there's a membership fee. Okay. And we support the membership fee for Avid. Okay. But then there are other expenses for Avid and Principal Shaw absorbs those

107in her Title 1 plan. So going to summer institute materials, binders, notebooks, the things that are the components of creating that successful scholar for Avid, those are funded through her Title 1 budgets. But as a district, we support all of our middle schools with their membership fee into Abbott, which gives them access to all of the curriculum resources. And then it's an option to choose to use Title 1 funds or other funds from your budget to support the accessories. Yes. Okay. Currently we just have have three schools that are in our in AVID and they are all Title 1. And they are all utilizing Title 1 funds to support the Avid initiative. Because to Ms. Point, we've seen it be successful. And if it's a budget matter, then, you know, that's. That would be a

108very valid point that has been proven to be effective and work and be beneficial to many. Okay, thank you. Ms. Edmonds, may we have someone else ask a question? Question. Yes, there's quite a few. Oh, I'm so sorry. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Ms. Wellens, are you finished? I'm done. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Shaw, for coming and sharing with us tonight. And thank you to all your hardworking teachers. What is your student population makeup as of today? Are you asking demographics or special education or all of it? Demographics. I don't know the numbers exactly right off hand, but we have about 45% white, 35% black, 10% Hispanic. And then I think my numbers are right. It's around that. It's around that amount. And then we have about 18% of our students are special

109education. 18%. Okay. Yeah. Did you use any of your title one monies this school year to hire any curriculum coaches or extra help for esol? I have five teachers, four and a half teachers in title one. I did not hire an additional instructional coach out of title one this year because I wanted to decrease the class sizes in my sixth grade. And so I used the additional position that used to be for an instructional coach to have an additional teacher so that I could have smaller class sizes. And we're seeing great growth in our sixth grade. And I do believe that a big part of that is because the classes are small. Most of our sixth grade classes are 18 students or smaller. And so our teachers are able to provide a lot of small

110group instruction and focus support for those students. Thank you. And what are your. Or do you have any incentives in place for your students and your teachers while all of this is happening for y'? All? Yes. Excuse me. So we offer incentives for teachers and students for our ready. We actually have one for our ready for second semester. The latest one for students is that if they have 40 lessons passed in math and reading by Friday, Friday they'll be entered into a drawing for $100. And that's per grade level. And our PTO has donated those funds for those students. For teachers, we've had competitions where the pride time that had the greatest percentage of students that had already lessons passed would get an hour of comp time or they get an administrator covers a class

111or they get a jeans pass. So we've Asked the students and the teachers what kinds of things they want and then we implement those incentives for them. And how about your parents? You know, this takes a village, as we all know, and parents are part of the village. So how are you communicating the needs of your students to their parents and the community? So we sent out a weekly newsletter and in that newsletter I always have a principal's message where I talk about academic achievement. I talk about different strategies that they can use. We have our ready calendar, so it shows parents like how we do our grading, which is every two weeks, the students are supposed to have four I Ready lessons done so they can keep up with when that grade is going

112to go in. For those next two weeks, we have family. Our family school facilitator works with me to plan community events and we get them out with the food and the different activities to fellowship with students. But while they're there, we talk about different ways that they can improve student academic and what they can do at home to help the students achieve better as well. On one of these slides, it talks about your targeted coaching and instructional support. Talk to me about the increased tier one coaching. How does that work in your school for a day? So. So for tier one is where our learning specialists have come alongside of our teachers. How many of them? All of them. All 20 of them. All of my middle school learning specialists are serving Loris Middle. Okay,

113that's good. From August up until today. Now, I don't want this to sound any kind of way because it's not all the teachers all the time. This is targeted. We've had 78 visits to Loris Middle School by our learning specialist and including myself, 78 visits to support and give whatever it is that the teachers need for that coaching support, a strategy, helping them plan, co teaching, modeling, all of those things. Our learning specialists, when I shared at the beginning that we were all in and boots on the ground, we are all in and boots on the ground to support Lawrence Middle School. And what kind of feedback are you providing to those teachers once your learning specialists leave the building? So in the past, our learning specialists had pretty much communicated with our principals and

114our instructional coach. I made a decision this year that our learning specialists were going to coach teachers on the spot that coaching so they could get that feedback. So in years previous, that feedback did come from the principal and or the instructional coach. But at this point in time, with where we are, with the needs that Loris has and other schools, we are in the process of going around to all schools with an extended Visit and our learning specialists are there and our principals are telling them exactly what they want them to do because we've got to change how we do business and we got to differentiate what the needs are at each school based on what the principals have determined are the big needs. What teachers like. Today we had a conversation and the

115principal asked for additional support for an induction teacher at a different school. So we are, we are invested in this work. We are going to rise lions, but we are going to rise just as a middle school learning specialist team because we, Mr. Jones said there are two types of people in a school system. There are teachers and people who support teachers. And we have taken that very much to heart and are trying to provide the support. Not trying. We are providing the support that our schools need for us in learning services. That's all I have. Thank you, miss. Ms. Dawson, thank you. I want to thank both of you, you for providing such a clear cut report, especially in terms of setting what, defining what your goals are. One of the things that was

116said though, Superintendent, was that our sped teachers have now embarked upon letters training. And while I think that's wonderful, I want to reassert the necessity when we ask our teachers to do one more, one more thing. What have we done to relieve them of bandwidth to make it available? I know their letters training is not done during classroom time, but the actual absorption and implementation of what they learn in letters training might take them a little bit of extra time in the classroom. So we need to make sure that as we're asking our teachers to do more and take on these new challenges in terms of new coaching instruction, new training, that we are removing things from their place as well. So. And also I want to say I think this is exactly the type

117of time and robust conversation this board should be having. I'm so proud of us for investing the time and be attentive to these important issues regarding academic pandemics. Mr. Bernard, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Generalette, thank you for what you do. I have a couple of middle schools, St. James and Socrates and another hybrid that they're not sure what it is. But as your compadre in crime will tell you, every time I visit a middle school, it appears we send students out of elementary school to middle school and then they go to high school. And during the time they're in middle school it appears they go dumb for three years. And I couldn't understand why all of us lost their learning in middle school, yet when they got ready to go to high school they

118were prepared and after four, five years of doing this, I figured out all the cards that stacked against it. The way you are required by the state to test, the way you're required to teach. You're doing a fantastic job. And I care just as much about the lawyers kids as James cares about my kids. And I want you to understand we all believe in that. But we also want you to know how much we'll support and give you any kind of help you need. And the results of what your school is doing is not necessarily a reflection upon you or your teachers. It's a reflection upon the system. That doesn't mean you don't need to fix it and make it better. But you're not getting credit for all the great things you're doing. You're preparing

119middle schools to go to high school and they're doing well. And we appreciate that and understand that. And we thank you very much for that. Ms. Hodges. Ms. Jennerette, do you think the absenteeism of 24.7 at your school as reported on the state report card as a reflection. I think it definitely impacted student achievement. Yes. So that, I mean to me that seems high. I did not look at others in comparison. And then also Mr. Jones, I noted that 59.2% of the funding was the expenditures were on instruction. So I don't have to have an answer today, but it would be nice to know like how that compares with others. And that number seemed relatively low to me for it to be 59.2%. And. Yeah, that just seemed like. Oh, and then instructional time on

120the state report card for your school it was 81.7% of the day was the instructional time. So you know, one of the key components of as we all know, of learning is time on task. And for example at St. James Middle, I think it was like 84%. So they were all around that low 80 some percent. So I'm not sure how it's calculated. But is it the transitioning or what? Because if they could have more time on task, that might be helpful also. Certainly. And I'll get back to the board with answers around both those state data. Thank you. Can I add to the metric is part of the metric is based on student and teacher attendance as well for the time on task is based on what? Attendance. Attendance. So if you have a

121high calculates into the time on task. Yeah. Because you're not here for instruction. That makes sense. But let me get back to the board. Great data points. And let me have a look. I'm curious to what they're calculating. Ms. Winners? Yes. Thank you both for being here this evening. My question is for Ms. Elaine. You. You mentioned that there were two other schools using Avid that are title one. Who are they? Myrtle Beach Middle School was our first avid and they had such success that Loris Middle School has just come on board. And the year previous to that, Winnimore park has come on board. So. And just I'm gonna piggyback a little bit on that because I just want to share something I got today. So on March 25, we have tech and teal immersion

122through CCU, a partnership with them. And the students that are going to participate in that are our Myrtle Beach Middle School students and our AVID students at Whittemore park and at Loris Middle School to have a full immersion day at Horry, Georgetown Tech and at ccu. Thank you. All right, thank you both. Appreciate it. Next we have Jason Cox, who's going to come to the place podium for some recognitions, I think. Golf recognitions, is that right? Yes, sir. Good evening. Here tonight to congratulate coach Patrick Wilkinson from a high school. He's been named the 2025 girls golf coach of the Year by the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association. He's coached girls and boys golf for a high school for 24 years. Coach Wilkinson is also the golf professional at Diamondback Golf Course in Loris. And

123he's an amazing advocate for growing the game of golf. Diamondback is the home course for four high schools in the area, but they also host many youth and high school golf tournaments. And we appreciate his support. We also appreciate, appreciate his leadership of the girls golf team. So congratulations, Patrick Wilkinson. Thank you. Finally tonight, board members, it's a special month. I don't know if you realize this, but it's board members Appreciation Month here in South Carolina. And on behalf of our students, staff, families and community, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all your hard work. Serving on the school board is a significant commitment, especially on Monday nights like this. And it requires long hours, thoughtful pre preparation and difficult decision making, often outside of the regular workday for many of

124you and oftentimes with your family obligations waiting for you at home. Our board members devote their personal time and energy to governing a complex organization, balancing community expectations, fiscal responsibility, but most importantly, they balance what's best for kids and they give it voice. And that's been on stage tonight. So on behalf of your superintendent, I just want to say thank you for what you do. Thank you, Mr. Jones, and thank you, board members for unlively discussion regarding Loris Middle School. Next, we need to adjourn this board work session and convene a special call meeting. I need a motion. So moved. And second, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those like, sign here. And done. We're moving into business. First order of business would be Mr. Birch, consider a purchase of property. We will be using

125our machines. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Members of the board, Mr. Jones, as we discussed earlier tonight, we'd like you to consider authorizing the purchase of 36.78 acres on horseshoe Road in Little river in the amount of $5,958,360 using funds from the interest reserve fund. Second. Okay. Please vote. That's unanimous. Thank you, Mr. Thanks for being. Mr. Lee James monitoring report. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Vice Chair Wellands members of the board, Mr. Jones, at our last meeting, I presented the R2 numeracy monitoring report and there have been no changes since that time. Move to approve. Please vote. Thank you, Mr. James. Thank you. Mr. Ricketts is going to use a naming request. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The naming of public facilities is not something a community or the board should take lightly since it signifies

126a lasting memorial to the life and work of an individual. I was fortunate to be a young teacher who benefited from the wisdom and example of Rodney McPherson. And I also had the privilege of serving as assistant principal. Before we act on this proposal, I want to share a little about this man with the board and with the audience. Rodney Clay McPherson was born at home to parents George McPherson and Ethel Bell Williamson McPherson in the Beaver Dam community in North Carolina. His childhood was pivotal in development of commitment to fellow man, country and God. Growing up, he attended Williams Township School. In the elementary grades, Rodney was a storyteller for afternoon reading time. In the lower grades in middle and high school, he was part of student council and played sports and was a

127school bus driver. Upon graduation from Williams Township School in 1959, he enlisted in the United States Air Force. At the end of his military service, Rodney returned home and took over the family farm. Due to his father's failing help, he managed a family farm while also working for the Columbus County Agricultural Extension Agency in the tobacco allotment program. Since his days at Williams Township, Rodney dreamed of being a teacher. He enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Premboke, and within three years, Rodney attended a Bachelor of Science with minors in psychology and Social Studies. Later in his career, he would obtain an educational specialist degree from Appalachian State University in Educational Leadership. Upon graduation from college, he married his sweetheart Linda and both were employed by the boys home of Lake Waccamaw. Their marriage

128lasted 56 years and although they didn't have children of their own, their work and education affected of a lot lives of many children in positive ways. In 1971, the couple moved to Loris where Rodney accepted an assistant principalship at Loris High School. Later, the Horry county school system assigned Rodney as assistant principal at Green C High School. When consolidation of Green C and Floyd's high schools was proposed, Rodney was brought in to represent the Green Sea community in the transition. His partnership with Ms. Mr. Luther Enser lasted for 16 years and was key in bringing the two rival schools together into one high school with a shared focus on excellence. He assumed the principalship upon Mr. Enzor's retirement in 1992. During those formative years of Green C. Floyd's high school, it was the support and

129encouragement he gave to students and staff which is still strongly felt today. Mr. Mack's mantra was simple, simply stated as listen, learn, link and lead. It served him well throughout the encounters he met in life. Mr. Chairman, it's because of the life he lived and his contributions to the Green Sea and Flores communities that I move. We support the recommendation of the Green C. Flores High School School Improvement Council and the Green Sea Flores Area Advisory Board. And name the community room and Green C. Floyd High School. The Rodney C. McPherson Mr. Mack Community Room. Mr. Chairman, I second that. Okay, we have an emotion. In a second. Please vote. It was unanimous. Thank you for that, Mr. Ricketts. We need a consent form. Personnel recommendations. So moved. Okay. Second. Back up. Forgot D. I'm

130sorry. Advisory advisor. Ms. Winters. I'm sorry, I skipped right over that. Advisory board members. Yes, I would like to nominate Jamiah Ponder. She would be reappointed, this time for a two year term. She served one to serve at Ten Oaks Middle School. And also of note to make Reverend Strange the community member, not Toms. Okay, let's do that by voice. All in favor say aye. Opposed like sign hearing? None. That passed. Now we move on to where I was before. We need a consent and an adjournment. Second. Okay, so in favor say aye. Aye. Adjournment. Motor. Adjourned. Same hear. None. Aye. We're adjourned. Thank you so much.