Little River pastor chosen as new school board member to fill vacancy
The Horry County Schools board has voted to add a pastor to its ranks.
The board has been at 11 members since its District 1 representative resigned in September, and the board interviewed applicants during a public meeting Monday to fill that vacancy.
After conferring in executive session for about a half hour, the board came to a majority decision via individual ballots to name Wyndham Russell Freeman to serve until the 2020 general election.
Freeman, the senior pastor at Little River United Methodist Church, will be sworn in during the board’s Nov. 19 meeting.
The district received eight completed applications from eligible candidates and voted to interview them all, though one, Joni Clayman Poff, dropped out before the interview.
The other candidates to interview Monday were: Dana Zamrik, William von Herrmann, Richard Marcus Jordan Sr., Micah Paul Gore, Marilyn Cox and Deloria Armstrong.
Board members asked the same six questions to each candidate. The questions dealt with maintaining a balanced budget, working with the superintendent, communications with staff and the public, the biggest issues facing the school district, school safety and preference on raising the millage rate versus renewing the penny sales tax.
Several candidates mentioned population growth and supporting the district’s teachers as primary issues, while most said they’d prefer renewing the penny sales tax to raising the millage rate.
Freeman noted that he has a daughter attending Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology and addressed the board’s recent controversial vote to eliminate the freshman and sophomore grades from the school’s STEM program. He acknowledged that he personally would’ve preferred the program continued without the change, but he respected the board needing to do what’s best for the community as a whole.
Holly Heniford resigned from the board in September shortly after being arrested and charged with DUI.
Heniford, who is also a licensed real estate broker, was first elected to school board in 2014 to represent District 1, which includes most of North Myrtle Beach and part of Myrtle Beach. She was re-elected last year with her second term set to expire in 2022. The person elected next year will serve the remainder of that term.
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 8:43 PM.
