North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
By Kaye Collins
The Horry County School Board convened for their inaugural meeting of the 2025-26 academic year on Friday, August 22, at 6 p.m. A primary focus of the meeting was to enhance reading comprehension among students within the Horry County School District over the forthcoming years. The district wide initiative, titled ‘Rise with Reading,’ seeks to ensure that 95 percent of students are reading at or above their respective grade levels by the year 2030.
Horry County Schools is prioritizing literacy as a significant focus for all grade levels this year. The initiative encompasses professional development, enhanced monitoring systems, specialized instructional coaching, and increased parental involvement.
At present, 74 percent of students are reading at or above grade level, and Horry County Schools is prepared to meet this challenge. Although it is an ambitious objective, the school district is fully committed to it. “We certainly offer numerous opportunities for parental involvement to ensure they are aware of the resources available to support their children as they engage in classroom activities,” Bourcier stated.
District Two Board Member, Debbie Edmonds, highlighted success in reducing third grade retention under the Read to Succeed Act, with the number of students at risk falling from 600 to 400. She also shared plans to strengthen literacy supports through new student programs. “In agriculture, career and technical education, special education transition services, and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program,” Edmonds said.
Bourcier also thanked the board of education for providing funding for new teacher training tools.“The big part is really the foundation of the science of reading, especially in our elementary level and continuing that into a lot of our writing abilities within the middle and high school as well,” Bourcier said.
Additional topics discussed during the meeting encompassed a significant increase in teacher salaries over the last decade. Newly appointed teachers currently receive an annual salary of $52,026, which represents an increase of approximately $16,000 compared to 2015.
