Who are Grace McColgan and Rebecca Schroyer? Here’s what we know so far.
.jpeg "Ocean Bay Elementary School is located at 950 International Dr in Myrtle Beach. The principal and a teacher were arrested Wednesday, Nov. 2.")
An Ocean Bay Elementary School special education teacher charged with six counts of unlawful neglect toward a child made more than $60,000 in 2021 through her position with Horry County Schools.
Little more is known about 60-year-old Grace McColgan’s ties with South Carolina’s third largest school district. The Sun News has requested McColgan’s personnel file through the Freedom of Information Act.
McColgan’s boss, principal Rebecca Schroyer, was also arrested and charged with two counts of failure to report a child neglect allegation.
McColgan is accused of striking three male students with an open hand on two separate occasions after they kept their heads on a table. An arrest warrant said McColgan also put hand sanitizer in a child’s open wound. She made an initial appearance Horry County Centralized Magistrate Bond Court on Nov. 1.
Grace McColgan has decades of teaching experience
At that hearing, lawyers said the Little River resident had no previous criminal history and has been teaching since 1984, including time as a special education teacher in New York.
Attorneys said McColgan has a fixed income of less than $2,000 a month.
McColgan, who’s been on administrative leave since Oct. 11, joined Horry County Schools in August 2020, district officials said.
McColgan posted a $10,000 bond and was released pending trial, according to court records. She’s not allowed to have any contact with the victims or their families or hold a position that would put her in care of children as a condition of her release.
McColgan’s boss is a veteran administrator who leads a Blue Ribbon school
Schroyer, 47, has been with Horry County Schools since 2001 and named principal of Ocean Bay Elementary in 2016.
She made $138,370 in 2021, according to GovSalaries.com, a searchable database of public sector employers.
In 2019, the 920-student school off International Drive was named one of America’s best, earning a National Blue Ribbon Award - one of 362 across the country to take home the honor.
“When I found out, I was filled with emotion to know that this honor is being shared with our community who pours into this building,” she told the The Sun News then. “Each and every member of our team here at Ocean Bay Elementary School works together, and that is why I’m just embracing the fact that this is a shared success.”
Prior to her administrative role, Schroyer taught fifth grade for six years. In 2006, she was named one of the district’s top ten teachers. Schroyer has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Wayne State University in Detroit and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of South Carolina, according to a biography on the Ocean Bay Elementary School’s website.
Born in Michigan, Schroyer has lived in Horry County for 22 years. She was released after is posting a $500 bond and will be allowed to travel to visit a sick family member before Thanksgiving.
Failure to report is a misdemeanor charge that carries a penalty of six months in prison and a $500 fine.