Activists question Horry County principal's move

Some area activists and community members have questioned the recent reassignment of an Horry County Schools principal for the 2010-11 school year.

Ronnie Burgess, principal at the Academy for the Arts, Science & Technology, was reassigned after the school board approved personnel recommendations for next year's budget on May 3. He will be assistant principal next year at Carolina Forest High School.

Community representatives say Burgess was demoted - which they consider unfair treatment for someone who has been a principal for 12 years - and say that it raises flags about the number of minorities in key positions with the schools.

"It's not a race war," said Mickey James, president of the Myrtle Beach branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The NAACP and the community "feel Mr. Burgess was handled wrongly. ... Maybe send him to classes or help him out in an area if they're having problems. ... Just don't throw him out."

James said he and community representatives believe Burgess is qualified to remain principal, but that their main concern "is that we don't have enough African-American principals in Horry County Schools."

Cindy Elsberry, Horry County Schools superintendent, said she can't speak to personnel details, but that Burgess was one of several reassignments made at the same board meeting.

Elsberry said reassignments are based on multiple sources of information such as evaluations, supervisor reports, parent/student surveys and student academic achievement data.

"I think it's important to mention we have three conferences a year with all principals," she said, where discussions center on a variety of factors that would have an impact on school performance and progress.

The superintendent makes personnel recommendations to the school board, and for 2010-11, that included 120 position cuts, which officials hoped to achieve through attrition and reassignments.

Under the school board's form of governance, the board approves all hiring and reassignments of principals, chief officers and executive directors.

Bennie Swans, a community activist, said this is not a racial issue, although it could give the appearance of being so.

"It took people by surprise. People have talked so very, very highly of Ronnie Burgess," said Swans, who offered letters and petitions supporting the principal.

Swans said Burgess may have had some weaknesses, but "from a community perspective, if all you hear is accolades, and something changes in the middle of the game ... it gives you reason for pause." He said there has been a history of ill relations between the school district and the community, and with that, he thinks this decision deserves a second look.

Burgess, who could not be reached for comment, started with the district in 1995 as a speech/drama teacher at AAST and joined Myrtle Beach High School the next year, where he became principal in 1998.

In 2003, he became principal at St. James High and moved to AAST in 2006.

According to a minority recruitment report from the school district, minorities at the assistant principal level is 17 of 66, or 26 percent; for principals, it is 7 of 42 principals, or 17 percent. Of the current student population, 65 percent are white; 21 percent are African-American; 7 percent are Hispanic; and 7 percent, other.

James said there will be a legal fight, as this is an issue of minorities in general, and that they will continue to press the district for more minority hires. He said they also will be looking at board members up for re-election and pushing people to the polls to make a change.

"We will look for people to be progressive in their thinking and looking forward to making an equal district," James said. "We have a lot of work cut out for us."