Know before you go | Horry County Board of Education preview

The Horry County Board of Education will meet Monday for both a work session and specially called meeting to discuss funding and facilities updates, along with recognizing the district’s support staff of the year.

The board will also recognize Carolina Forest High School’s Robo Katz robotics team, a local entrepreneur of the year and Carolina Forest High’s drama department. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the district office, 335 Four Mile Road, Conway.

Below are three important topics to be discussed at the meeting and what they mean for the general public:

Topic: Support staff employees of the year

Horry County Schools will recognize the top five support staff employees of the year at a reception before the board meeting, where more than 50 people will be honored for their contribution to the district. The top five employees will be recognized at the board meeting, and the employee of the year will receive monetary compensation.

Why you care:

Support staff – including cafeteria workers, bus drivers and janitorial staff – interact with students and faculty daily but are rarely recognized for their work.

“Sometimes folks don’t know the impact these people have on their kids’ day to day life,” said Roger Gray, director of human resources for the district. “For a lot of kids, the bus drivers are the first people these children see in the morning.”

Recognizing support staff is important to keeping up morale, Gray said, especially among people who aren’t always in the spotlight. This is the third year the district has handed out these awards, which includes a plaque and a small monetary gift, but Gray said it’s important to those who win the awards.

“The recognition, you can just tell, you can see how excited and humbled they are for being recognized,” Gray said. “Whenever you talk to them, the fact that they are there for the children comes through.”

Topic: Report on communication

The district will present its annual communication monitoring report which describes the ongoing ways parents, students and stakeholder are informed of the district’s activities throughout the year.

Why you care:

Understanding how the district relays messages to the public – whether about snow days or policy changes – is important for all taxpayers. Though this report is a regular presentation by district staff, hearing how the district engages all audiences can lead to smoother communications in the future.

“It’s just a report, like every other department has to file,” said Teal Harding, district spokeswoman. “It’s not something the board asked for, but it keeps them abreast of how we communicate to the public.”

Topic: Extending auditor’s contract

The board will vote whether or not to extend McGregor and Company’s auditing contract with the district for a year, allowing time for the procurement office to prepare a new financial and procurement auditing services solicitation.

Why you care:

Horry County Schools goes through a financial and procurement audit every year, at a recurring cost of $50,700. McGregor and Company, based in Columbia, S.C., had a contract with the district for three consecutive years of auditing, which ended after the June 30, 2014 audit. The contract had options to extend the deal for another year, which is what the district is recommending.

“We’ve used the same company for a number of years, and the district is not unhappy with him. Harding said.

The board could vote to extend the current auditor’s contract, at an expense of $50,700, or begin solicitations for a new auditor, at an unknown cost.

This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Know before you go | Horry County Board of Education preview."